Ryan Garcia: My return is coming

By Boxing News - 07/07/2020 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Ryan Garcia has finally emerged to post on social media a brief message to his fans that he’ll be returning to the ring possibly against Luke Campbell. Golden Boy Promotions confirmed to the WBC on Monday that King Ryan (20-0, 17 KOs) will be taking part in their de facto lightweight tournament against Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs).

Ryan and Campbell will still need to negotiate the fight before it’s official. However, it’s a good sign that Ryan and his promoters at Golden Boy are interested in taking the contest.

Campbell made it clear right away that he wanted to face Ryan, and he’s already predicting a knockout. If the negotiations fizzle out, then the WBC will need to replace Ryan or Campbell with another opponent and then order that fight.

Garcia’s return is coming

The World Boxing Council recently ordered Garcia to fight the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell for the interim WBC 135-pound title. The winner of the Garcia-Campbell will be in line to challenge WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.

Garcia vs. Campbell won’t be able to force a match against WBC Franchise champion Vasiliy Lomachenko unfortunately, but facing Haney might be good enough. Lomachenko could vacate his l135-pound titles if he beats IBF champion Teofimo Lopez in September.

If Garcia backs out of this fight like he did the July 4 match, he’s going to have a lot of people angry at him, saying he ducked Campbell like he did Jorge Linares.  Ryan was supposed to fight on July 4, but he chose not to take the fight after turning down the offer from Golden Boy.

The WBC is setting up a situation where there will be THREE champions at 135 after the smoke clears from the Campbell vs. Garcia fight.

Ryan wants the Campbell fight

Even though the WBC interim title that Campbell and Garcia fight for is a temporary one, it still adds to the mess the WBC has created with all their difference champions at 135. You don’t see that kind of thing in the NFL or NBA.

“Golden Boy Boxing has confirmed King Ryan Garcia’s participation in the fight vs Luke Campbell. The great tournament in the lightweight division,” said WBC Boxing.

The other fights in the WBC’s tournament are as follows:

  • Vasily Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez
  • Jorge Linares vs. Javier Fortuna

WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney has been given a voluntary defense by the sanctioning body. His promoters at Matchroom Boxing are still looking for an opponent for his next fight, but they’re expected to have someone soon.

The good news is that we’ll see several of the top lightweights filtered out, and we can then see who the really talented guys are. It won’t be a shock to anyone if Ryan gets taken out by Campbell. The young Golden Boy fighter Garcia doesn’t have the same kind of experience that Campbell possesses, and his offense is predictable in comparison.

YouTube video

Luke with a lot more weapons

Campbell can punch with either hand, and he’s capable of throwing shots from different angles t knock guys out. With Ryan, he has a nice left hook that he throws for knockouts, but that’s about it. His right hand is nothing special, and he doesn’t possess much of a jab.

“He has a hell of a following, but they won’t help him in the ring,” said Campbell to skysports.com in commenting on Ryan Garcia.

Ryan has 6.6 million followers on social media; many of them are fawning young girls. Garcia hasn’t been through the tough fights yet like Campbell has, and that could be a problem. ‘Unless Ryan can score a quick knockout of Campbell, he could be hitting off more than he can chew in taking this fight.