By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia is saying that he’s fighting Abner Mares next. This hasn’t been confirmed yet by Ryan’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions. Robert Diaz, the matchmaker for Golden Boy, says he doesn’t like the Garcia-Mares fight because of the considerable difference in size between the two.
If this fight does happen, it could take place on July 4. That’s when Ryan Garcia had planned on fighting next against Jorge Linares. However, the 34-year-old Linares couldn’t take the fight because of the travel ban. Linares is in Japan, and he wouldn’t be able to do it
Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs) would need to move up in weight two divisions to fight the 21-year-old Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) at lightweight. There’s little chance that Ryan would agree to come down to 130 to face the 34-year-old Mares.
Fans would prefer to see Ryan fight Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, or Vasiliy Lomachenko next. However, those are matches that won’t get made for a while yet. In the case of Lomachenko, Ryan might not ever face him because he’s with Top Rank.
Ryan Garcia Says he’s fighting Abner Mares next
“I’m very happy I’m fighting you Abner Mares,” said Ryan Garcia on Twitter.
On Ryan Garcia’s Instagram, he said this, “FIGHT UPDATE REAL SOON!!!”
If this fight does take place, it’s going to make some boxing fans happy because they’ve heard of Mares, and they’ll want to see Ryan face him. But for knowledgable people that follow the sport, they won’t like it as much because of the size disparity between the two.
The 5′ 4 1/2″ Mares is so much smaller than the 5’10” Ryan Garcia, and he’s not in his prime. Mares hasn’t fought in TWO years since his loss to Leo Santa Cruz in their rematch in June 2018. Santa Cruz easily beat Mares by a 12 round unanimous decision in that fight, and it wasn’t competitive at all.
Since that fight, there was talk of Mares facing Tank Davis. However, Mares suffered an eye injury that resulted in the plans for him to face Tank being canceled. Had that fight taken place, Tank would have been heavily favored over Mares due to his youth and power.
Ryan has been saying how he wants to “SHOCK the world,” but he’s not going to do that by fighting Mares. A fight like this will disappoint the world because they expect more from Ryan than facing an old guy that is coming off of a loss and a two-year layoff.
Golden Boy matchmaker doesn’t like Garcia vs. Mares
“Linares can’t happen next because he’s in Japan,” said Golden Boy Promotions Matchmaker Robert Diaz on social media. “Mares, to be honest, I don’t like the fight. I would do it because it’s simple and it’s easy.
“With all due respect, Mares grew up with us but the weight difference is such a big difference. I’d rather see ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz against Mares at 130. That’s a good fight, and an even fight and good for LA..”
It’s too bad Robert Diaz doesn’t say who he would like to see Ryan Garcia fight because that would at least let fans know what direction they’ll be going in for the future.
Diaz says he’ll make the fight, but he won’t like it. Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions that calls the shots and this is a predictable type of fight for him.
We’ve seen Golden Boy fighter Canelo Alvarez fight a lot of old guys that were well past their prime. Look at the last fighter Canelo fought. 36-year-old Sergey Kovalev. If De La Hoya matches Ryan in the same way he’s done with Canelo, then Mares will definitely be next followed by 35-year-old Jorge Linares.
Mares’ best victories have come over these fighters:
- Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar
- Anselmo Moreno
- Daniel Ponce De Leon
- Eric Morel
- Joseph Agbeko
- Vic Darchinyan
Mares’ best weight class was when he fought at 118, but he hasn’t fought in that division since 2011.