Ryan Garcia wants Jorge Linares fight SOONER than July 11

Image: Ryan Garcia wants Jorge Linares fight SOONER than July 11
By Boxing News - 03/06/2020 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Ryan Garcia wants his fight against Jorge Linares to be moved to a sooner date than the July 11th that Golden Boy Promotions have scheduled it. They’ve booked the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Garcia-Linares bout, but that date is too far ahead for the unbeaten lightweight contender Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs)

Negotiations are still moving slowly between former 3 division world champion Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) and Garcia, but Ryan’s dad Henry isn’t thrilled by the fight.

Henry says prefers Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) as an opponent for Ryan, even though Linares beat the British fighter by a 12 round split decision in September 2017. Moreover, the 34-year-old Linares is only two years older than the 32-year-old Campbell. There’s not enough difference in their ages for Campbell to be viewed as the better choice for Garcia.

Ryan Garcia in a hurry to face Jorge Linares

“I’m really thinking about pushing this fight sooner, what do you guys think?” said Ryan on @KingRyanG about a fight with Linares. “I feel healthy to fight again and I’m ready to get back to it, so why not? Boxing gloveFire. Hopefully, I can get an earlier date at staples center FireBoxing glove,” said Garcia.

“It’s just a matter of going over some details. The date is July 11th. It could change,” said Ryan’s promoter Eric Gomez to Fino Boxing.

Linares is the type of fighter that Garcia needs as much preparation as possible for him to be victorious. It might be better for Ryan to leave the July 11 date in place for the Linares fight, and use the time to train for the match.

Ryan would get a lot of attention fighting on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders undercard on May 2, but it might cost too much to stage the Linares fight on the card. Garcia vs. Linares is more of a headliner fight than a co-feature bout, and it’s a match that would have a lot at stake.

It might even be more interesting for boxing fans than the Canelo-Saunders fight, which shapes up to be a cat & mouse affair. Garcia-Linares would provide great value for the fans, and it’s arguably too good of a fight to be on an undercard.

Negotiations ongoing for Garcia vs. Linares fight

“Right now it’s not official because we’re still in negotiations, so that’s not 100%,” said Henry Garcia to Fighthype on a clash between Ryan and Jorge Linares. “I’m going to tell you this. Linares is past his prime. This is what bothers us a little bit. Ryan gets criticized no matter what. That’s OK People hate on him and hate on me, it’s OK. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.

“The bottom line is we’re winning and knocking people out. This is the thing you have to understand. If Ryan beats Linares, what do you think they’re going to say? ‘He beat him because he’s past his prime.’ So what does that do to Ryan? So here we go backpedaling. We’re not here to backpedal. And we’re here to move forward and fight the best.

“We’re not denying and we’re not ducking as you people thought we did with Romero Duno. That was a joke. Having that T-shirt, ‘Why are you running, Ryan?’ Whoever wrote that shirt should be fired, because let me tell you, that really p—- Ryan off. When you p— Ryan off, he’s coming to knock you out. he tells me privately. He won’t say it to the media, but I’ll tell you what he tells me. So just be careful what you say to him,” said Ryan’s dad.

Henry might not have seen Linares’ Carlos Morales, Abner Cotto, and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Linares fought well against all three of those fighters, and he knocked Lomachenko down.

Luke Campbell a fight Ryan Garcia’s dad wants

“A Luke Campbell fight would be better for us,” said Henry about Ryan gaining more from a fight against Luke than he would against Linares. “Lee Selby, people like that are in their prime. If you notice, Ryan has been fighting guys in their prime, so there’s no excuse there. He’s too old’ or ‘He’s too young.’ Nah, Nah, Nah.

“We get guys that are in their prime that have their man-strength. Believe it or not, Ryan still doesn’t have his man-strength, as it seems. Give him until he’s 22, and then I’ll say he’s got his man-strength. But with Linares, he’s already got soft [scar] tissue, OK? He cuts up easily. Ryan will really, really. I don’t know but hey, whatever happens, happens. I’m going to tell you this much.

“Ryan is much taller than Lomachenko. Ryan is 5’11”. How the heck are you going to knockout Ryan? He’s going to have to have so much. He’s [Lomachenko] got the experience, but you’ve got to have speed and you’ve got to have power. You got to outsmart Ryan. That’s the hard part. Try and outsmart my son. His IQ is so high right now and confident. He even told you, ‘it would have to be someone special to beat me.’

“I believe it because I know my son and I know how many years we’ve been doing that work ethic. I mean, he’s a superstar. Speed is power but the reason why they underestimate who he is, and I’m going to tell you one more time. It’s the social media. He’s a star on social media, but don’t confuse that with his skills,” said Henry on Ryan Garcia.

Ryan’s dad might be basing his opinion of Linares being old on his 1st round knockout loss to light-welterweight Pablo Cesar Cano last year in January 2019.

Linares got caught cold out of the gate by the heavy-handed Cano, and he never recovered. Cano knocked Linares down three times in the first round before the fight was stopped, and a terrible performance by the former three-division champion.

Ryan will outbox Tank Davis

“A boxer will always beat a brawler,” said Ryan Garcia’s dad Henry to Fighthype. “Don’t get scared, and don’t get mad. Ryan is not scared of Tank Davis, because Ryan is a boxer. Ryan is going to outbox him, and when he gets frustrated, he’s going to open himself up, and Ryan is going to knock him out.

‘He’s a kid, he’s this and that,’ said Henry in repeating what Gervonta said about Ryan. “That’s fine. Maybe he is a kid, but he hits like a mule. He’s got an IQ, and he’s got speed and power. He’s got a long reach. Gervonta Davis is what, 5’4 or 5’5? He’s going to need a ladder to hit Ryan. I don’t mean no disrespect, but come on. Let’s be real here, okay?

“You’re going to try and hit Ryan. Ryan isn’t going to say, ‘Okay, go ahead and hit me.’ He isn’t going to put his hands out and say, ‘Go ahead and hit me.’ He’s going to figure you out and look at you. When he looks at you, he’s already going to see a lot of openings. He’s going to wait for that moment, and when that opportunity comes, he’s going to take it.

“I’ve always told Ryan, ‘Don’t try and knock them out right away. However, if you do see the opportunity, take it.’ That’s all I tell Ryan. I don’t go into details with him. I just say that to him, and he knows exactly what I mean,” said Henry Garcia.

Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is an advanced fighter for Ryan to be taking on right now, and he needs to get a little more experience before he faces him. A victory for Ryan over Linares and Campbell will signal that he’s ready for bigger and better things like a fight against Tank Davis.