By Allan Fox: Robert Diaz of Golden Boy Promotions is looking forward to Ryan Garcia, Canelo Alvarez, and Vergil Ortiz Jr. getting back into the ring in 2020.
Golden Boy plans on putting together a fight between the young 21-year-old Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) and former three-division world champion Jorge Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) possibly by the late summer.
This is a match-up that will give a good indication of where Ryan is at in terms of his development. If Ryan can knock out the 34-year-old Linares in the same way he’s been doing with his recent opponents, then he’s got a chance to make big waves in the lightweight division in the future.
Linares, 34, is still fighting at a high level, and Ryan will have a test on his hands if he can’t get him out of there early. Ryan has only fought eight rounds in his last four contests combined, and he’s not being put in learning situations.
Golden Boy has fed Ryan soft fodder-level opposition, and he’s blowing them out too quickly for them to be any use to him.
Ryan Garcia won’t get credit for beating Linares
“Yes and no, and the reason I say that is the fans of boxing are difficult to keep happy,” said Rubin Diaz to AB Boxing News when asked if a win by Ryan Garcia over Linares will show that he’s arrived at the top.
“If Ryan and Jorge fight and Ryan keeps doing what he’s been doing, and let’s say he knocks Jorge out in the first round. The next day, they’re never going to give Ryan the full credit. He may gain a percentage of those fans who didn’t believe, but 100%? No.
An example is Canelo. Canelo is #1 and is the face of boxing, and every day someone has something negative to say, but that’s boxing. Ryan understands that. He never experienced that before.
“In the beginning, he wanted to fight this guy or that guy. We told him, ‘In due time. Ryan, let your body mature. Grow into it. Your power is also going to get better.’
“I love the fight [Ryan Garcia vs. Jorge Linares] because it not only determines speed but also thinking in there. It’s going to be a chess match in the first three rounds. Jorge still has his speed,” said Diaz.
Ryan Garcia will get a ton of credit if he beats Linares. We’re talking about a fighter that has won world titles in three divisions, and recently gave Vasiliy Lomachenko all he could handle.
Linares, a tough opponent for Ryan Garcia
“Look at how well he did against Lomachenko,” said Diaz. “Everybody thought, ‘this is an easy fight.’ Linares did good, dropped Lomachenko, and did well until Loma snuck in that body shot.
“It’s a perfect fight because if Ryan wins against Linares, it’ll be a bigger win than some of the world champions have in world title fights. It’s a step in the ring direction if Ryan wins.
“If Jorge wins, hey, he’s a three-division world champion. Jorge is no slouch. Too many people are worried about the ‘0’. If you don’t have a ‘0’, you’re not a great fighter. All the great fighters in the past, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez, Leonard, they all lost. They took risks against the best, and to me, that’s more important. He will deserve it,” said Diaz about Ryan if he beats Linares.
“With Ryan, a lot of people mistake because he’s so active on social media, and he has so many followers, he must not be working in the gym. The kid of a very hard worker and a quick learner. If you’ve got a hard worker and the talent, then you’ve got a great fighter,” said Diaz.
Linares might beat Ryan and take him to school. As long as Golden Boy Promotions has their eyes open about what could happen in this fight, then it won’t be such a shock to them if Ryan loses.
Canelo’s options at 168
“At 168, Canelo vs. Benavidez, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and throw Danny Jacobs back in there in the mix. Gennady Golovkin, let him come up to 168 because that’s where all the big names are at.
If Charlo and Demetrius fight, then the winner will be seen as really good. That’s how it should be. They would have a playoff of an eliminator and then move on to fight the big names.
“I heard some things about GGG wants to do his mandatory. That confuses me because a couple of months before, he wanted to fight Canelo. Now Canelo is saying, ‘I’ll fight you.’ But Golovkin is saying, ‘I want to do my mandatory.’ We’ve always wanted to match-up tough, and there’s not going to be an exception. This is going to get tougher when this is all said and done,” said Diaz.
It sounds like Canelo Alvarez will be making his home at 168 from now on rather than floating back to 160 or 175. The immediate plans for Canelo are for him to fight WBO super middleweight champion, Billy Joe Saunders.
If Canelo wins that fight, then a trilogy with Gennadiy Golovkin at 168 has a high probability of happening. That would depend on GGG, whether he’s done making title defenses for his IBF belt.
Diaz mentioned WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez as one of the options for Canelo, but that’s a fight that probably won’t ever happen. Benavidez is too big and too talented for Golden Boy to throw him in with Canelo.
Vergil Ortiz ready for Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia
“With Vergil [Ortiz], you see a couple of different things. You see talent, but along with that talent, there’s a lot of discipline. And those two ingredients in any fighter, it’s a great fighter. Vergil is a kid that is very disciplined, very quiet outside the ring, and very loud inside the ring.
“He’s already fought two former world champions and a contender for the world title. He’s ahead a lot of other fighters in his group. Is he ready for them? Yes. Vergil is ready fr Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman.
“There’s talk about Spence. In a year and a half to two years. I was worried about the Mauricio Herrera fight for Vergil. However, I like the fight because if Vergil were to lose, the experience would make him a good fighter.
‘He’s given everybody a tough fight, including Danny Garcia. He’s a tough fighter to look good against. Every time we think he’s going to struggle, he passes with flying colors. He’s ready for that next level,” said Diaz.
It’s unlikely that former world champion Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman are going to agree to fight a young up and comer like Vergil Ortiz Jr. Ideally, it would be outstanding if Thurman and Danny gave the green light to a fight against Ortiz, but why would they? They have nothing to gain and everything to lose in facing him.
