By Kenneth Friedman: Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia says he’s going to send the old lion Jorge Linares into retirement when the two fight each other. Ryan respects what the former three-division world champion Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) has accomplished during his long 18-year professional career, but he still plans on knocking him out and sending him into retirement.
Ryan and the 34-year-old Linares were supposed to be fighting in July at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but that fight doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Like all the other matches that aren’t taking place right now, the coronavirus has made fighting virtually impossible.
Linares and Ryan will be fighting at some point either this year or next. It’s all down to the coronavirus. Garcia, 21, needs a win over Linares to take his career to the next level, and to show the boxing world that he’s for real.
Ryan’s recent wins over Francisco Fonseca, Romero Duno, and Jose Lopez weren’t big enough victories to impress the hardcore boxing fans. Garcia need to beat Linares, Luke Campbell and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to show fans he’s legit.
Ryan Garcia: I’m going to test Linares’ heart
“Everything I do in boxing is calculated,” said Ryan Garcia to DAZN USA. “So Linares, it’s all good and dandy. You had a great career. I have respect for you in that regard. Linares, all kudos to him. One thing he doesn’t have [Ryan points to his heart]. I’m going to test that when I see him.
“If he comes forward, he can’t get me,” said Garcia. “Even if he goes backward, I’m getting him. You’re going to get countered. Don’t throw that shot. I try to put fear into that guy’s mind because he knows it’s going to come. He passed it on to me,” said Ryan Garcia on boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson passing on his left hook to him.
Ryan will need to be watchful of Linares’ speed and punching power because he’s got knockout power. In Linares’ last fight, he destroyed former Garcia opponent Carlos Morales by a 4th round knockout last February. This is the same Morales that Ryan struggled to beat by a 10 round majority decision in September 2018. Morales fought well enough to deserve a victory against Garcia, but the judges gave it to him.
Linares is motivated and wants the fight with Garcia. That’s a contest that could rejuvenate Linares’ career, being that it’s been two years since he lost his WBA lightweight title to Vasily Lomachenko in May 2018. After that loss, Linares made a disastrous move in going up to 140, where he was knocked out in the 1st round by Pablo Cesar Cano in January 2019.
Linares then moved back down to 135, and he’s won his last two fights against Carlos Morales and Al Toyogon. Those weren’t tough foes like Ryan Garcia, and it could be difficult for him when they eventually fight.
Linares will be retired after we fight – Ryan
“I’m going to f—- knock his a— out,” said Garcia about Linares. He’s an old lion. I’m going to get him out of there. He’s going to be retired after my fight. I’m going to calculate my shot and hit him to where he can’t get up. I’ll say it like that.
“My family being there, it’s just a comforting feeling. They’ve been there my whole life. They’ve been on this boxing journey with me, and they’ve been to hell and back with me. And they gave up everything to pour into my boxing career, and we had no plan-B. It was ‘Ryan, you’re talented, go,” said Garcia.
That would be a big surprise if Ryan knockouts out Linares, and sends him into retirement like he says he’s going to do. It would have to be a really bad knockout loss for Linares to consider retiring because he still has a lot left in the tank.
