By Sean Jones: Negotiations for the Ryan Garcia – Jorge Linares fight aren’t close for the previously planned July 11 date, but there’s still time to get it made. Steve Kim saying it “isn’t all that close,” which goes along with what Ryan’s father Henry Garcia is saying.
“[It’s’] Not a done deal and not 100%,” said Henry Garcia to fighthype.
Ryan’s dad said that the Linares fight is a “BACKWARD” step for him due to the age of the 34-year-old Venezuelan fighter. Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) will be turning 35 this summer in August, and it’s possible that Ryan’s dad Henry feels he may not receive credit for beating a fighter that age.
“Ryan is fighting guys right now that are in their prime. They’re 22, 23 and 25. So if we go back to [a fighter that is ] 36, then we’re going backward, and Ryan doesn’t like to go backward,” said Ryan’s dad.
Unlike a lot of younger fighters, Ryan Garcia hasn’t built up the early part of his career with a lot of older guys. He’s fought younger fighters from the very start, and that’s why he might view it as a backward step for him to face Linares.
Golden Boy star Canelo Alvarez has fought old guys
Canelo Alvarez didn’t have any problems with facing older fighters during the early portion of his career. Canelo fought a lot of old-timers. Here are some of the many older guys Canelo fought:
- Shane Mosley
- Miguel Cotto
- Lovemore Ndou
- Carlos Baldomir
- Ryan Rhodes
- Kermit Cintron
- Austin Trout
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- James Kirkland
You can argue that Canelo NEVER stopped fighting older guys. Look at his matches against Gennadiy Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. Those are both fighters on the wrong side of 30, and neither of them were at their best when Canelo fought them. My point is if Canelo has no problems fighting older fighters, then Ryan shouldn’t have any issues as well.
Eric Gomez sounding positive about Garcia-Linares fight
Garcia’s promoter Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions sounded optimistic late last month, saying to Fino Boxing, “It’s just a matter of going over some details. The date is July 11th. It could change, but that’s part of setting up a fight. Linares has accepted the fight. If he dominates Jorge Linares, then he’s ready right after that,” said Gomez.
Golden Boy Promotions has booked the July 11 date at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Garcia vs. Linares fight. If the fight doesn’t get made, then it’s possible that Golden Boy could move off the date.
The question is who can Golden Boy find for Garcia if he and his dad aren’t willing to take the fight with Linares? Ryan can’t keep fighting guys like Francisco Fonseca, Carlos Morales, and Romero Duno. He needs to upgrade the level of his opponents if he’s serious about wanting to take on the winner of the Luke Campbell vs. Javier Fortuna fight.
Campbell and Fortuna are a lot better fighters than the guys that Golden Boy has been matching Garcia up with. That’s the whole problem. Golden Boy has boosted Ryan’s already huge ego with their soft match-making, and now that they want to put him in with a live body in Linares, we’re seeing Ryan’s dad sounding less than excited about the fight.