Ryan Garcia wants to fight Abner Mares next

By Boxing News - 05/30/2020 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Ryan Garcia is hoping that he can face Abner Mares in his next fight. His says the former three-division world champion Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs), and he wants to knock him out.

Ryan admits that he probably won’t get credit for beating the 34-year-old Mares, who is a lot smaller than him and would need to move up two weight classes. It’s not just Mares’ lack of size that will result in King Ryan Garcia not receiving credit if he beats him.

Some boxing fans will be pleased with seeing Ryan Garcia fight a recognizable name in mares, but the knowledgable fans will be appalled at this fight. It’s too late in the game for the past his prime Mares to be fighting a young lion like Ryan Garcia.

Mares an option for Ryan Garcia

It’s the lack of activity. Mares hasn’t fought in two years since 2018, and that was a loss to Leo Santa Cruz. This isn’t the best time for Ryan to be fighting an inactive old guy coming off of a one-sided defeat.

The 21-year-Garcia can’t afford to be picking right now, unfortunately, since the talented fighters can’t travel to the U.S because of the pandemic.

Sizing up his light competition, Ryan Garcia dismisses champions Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Teofimo Lopez as lacking the size to give him problems. Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) doesn’t rate either of those fighters as having the talent to beat him.

Ryan Garcia says being Teofimo and Tank Davis will be “easier than you think” it will. Unfortunately, neither of those guys figure to be in the 21-year-old Garcia’s immediate future. Ryan says Abner Mares could be next up for him if he doesn’t price himself out by asking for too much money.

Garcia wanted to fight Jorge Linares next, but the travel ban is stopping that fight from taking place. The two could fight in the future at some point, but not now, while the travel restrictions are halting the fight.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants to fight Abner Mares next

Abner Mares = the next target for Ryan

“I hope to get Abner Mares in the ring, but he might price himself out, but that’s OK, but he called me out,” said Garcia to The AK and Barak show on DAZN.

“I wasn’t worried about him. He’s a little guy, a little dude, and a little man, so I would not want to hurt him.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody, and I will hurt him. He’s a tiny man. He called me out, and he went for it. So I’m like, ‘If you want that work, I’m going to knock you out. I’m not going to get credit, but I just want to knock you out.’

“It’s more of an ‘I’m going to knock you out the type of thing.’ If we could get that fight going [it would be great], but probably not,” Ryan said on wanting to KO Abner Mares.

This match-up will give fans a chance to see where Ryan Garcia is in terms of talent. Mares looked shot to bits two years ago in his loss to Leo Santa Cruz, and being out of the ring for two years couldn’t help his game.

Ryan will be expected to beat Mares even more soundly than Santa Cruz did, which might not be possible. Mares is a tricky fighter with the type of game that could make it tough for Ryan.

Teofimo and Tank Davis lack the size

“As of right now, it’s Lomachenko, but in the future, it’s going to be Devin Haney told Ryan when asked who is his toughest competitor at 135. “I know he’s the toughest one out there. Teofimo has got little arms, and Gervonta Davis is too short. That’s just my experience in real combat.

“I know how to fight. I’ve been boxing since I was seven-years-old. They’ve got a lot of good attributes, but they will not be able to keep up with me. I promise you that. It’ll be easier than you think. Devin Haney and Lomachenko are two different guys that are at a different level, in my opinion,” said Garcia.

It’s a bad look on Ryan Garcia’s part to be dismissive of lightweight world champions Teofimo Lopez and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis because of their lack of size. By making comments on the size of Teofimo and Tank Davis, Ryan comes across like he’s looking for an excuse not to fight both of them.

If Ryan Garcia is going to stay at 135, he’s going to need to be able to fight Tank and Lopez. Unlike Devin Haney, they don’t plan on moving up to 140 right away.

If Ryan excludes Gervonta and Teofimo from consideration because of their height and reach, the fans are going to see it as a sign that he’s ducking them. It wouldn’t be so noticeable if Ryan weren’t fighting fodder-level guys like Francisco Fonseca, Romero Duno, and Jose Lopez.

Ryan Garcia needs to upgrade the level of competition he’s facing if he wants to be dismissive of fighters like Gervonta and Teofimo as being too small or not good enough for him.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants to fight Abner Mares next

Ryan Garcia predicting knockout of Devin Haney

“Devin Haney may not have the type of speed I have or the power, but he’s got ring IQ,” said Ryan Garcia. “He got trained by the seniors and the juniors and Roy Jones’. I don’t have that, but I have this [Ryan points to his head].

I think for myself. Imagine you have all these great trainers, not just now, but your whole life and me? Nothing. From a garage and I’m throwing blows with everybody. That tells you one thing. I’m thinking about myself.

“I will beat him by a knockout when it happens. So you sit back and enjoy the ride.

Haney. “I’m just looking at the facts. When you see Devin Haney’s last fight and Gervonta’s previous fight, and then you look at my last battle, and then you tell me who’s going to win.

“Gervonta and Devin Haney didn’t fight any top level and didn’t look right. Gervonta looked horrible [against Yuriorkis Gamboa], and I’m still training harder and even better than I was before.

“So I’m only going to get better. Don’t underestimate me, and also, if you do, don’t bet money against me because I promise you, you’ll probably be losing that money. Of course,” said Ryan Garcia when asked if he’s confident that he’ll beat Devin.

This is another fight that Ryan will need to make soon while he’s in the same weight class as Haney. The Mayweather protege Haney said on social media on Friday that he’s going to be moving up to 140 after two more fights.

The chances of Haney fighting Ryan Garcia before he moves up to light-welterweight are virtually nonexistent.  Golden Boy Promotions haven’t said anything about wanting to make the Garcia vs. Haney fight.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants to fight Abner Mares next

Linares fight NOT happening

“I’m in a tricky situation. I can’t get that Linares fight because of the travel restrictions, so I’m looking elsewhere,” said Ryan Garcia. “I’m not going to get any credit for any kind of victory that I get.

“Even if it was Linares, people already got the excuses lined up. They’re going to say that Linares is old, and he has no chin when I catch him. So I’m already ready for it.

“What I do know is whoever I fight, I’m going to keep moving forward.  As long as I’m in the ring fighting, it’s going to be good for me,” Garcia said.

The Garcia vs. Linares fight was never going to happen; let’s be real. Even before the pandemic started, Ryan Garcia’s dad Henry was saying that he didn’t want him to fight Linares because he felt he was too old.

Now presto, Ryan isn’t fighting Linares, but the excuse for the fight not happening has now changed from Linares being too old to him not being allowed into the country.

We’ll see after the lockdown if Ryan Garcia is still interested in fighting Linares. If not, then we’ll have to assume that Linares was judged as too risky for him to fight. If Ryan waits too much longer, a win over Lomachenko will lose any sense of value because the Ukrainian fighter is aging. Loma is starting to show signs of deterioration, and that’s only going to get worse as time passes.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants to fight Abner Mares next

Ryan might retire if he beats Lomachenko or Gervonta

“I want to accomplish beating a fighter that nobody thinks I can beat at that moment,” said Ryan Garcia. “Ryan, there’s no way he’ll beat Gervonta’ or ‘there’s no way he’ll beat Lomachenko.’ I beat them, and then I’ll walk away. But we’ll see what happens. You can’t tell the future to be honest.

“Anything I do, I love to win,” said Ryan Garcia when asked about his thoughts on fighting behind closed doors. “Whether it’s social media, playing basketball, or anything it is, I want to win.

“I don’t want to let that person beat me. It doesn’t affect me. If he feels like he’s getting the edge on me in the ring, I’ll start to pick it up,” said Ryan.

It would be a shock to a lot of fans if Ryan were to retire after beating Vasiliy Lomachenko and or Gervonta Davis. Why retire after beating those guys?

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