By Charles Brun: Javier Fortuna has pulled out of his fight with Luke Campbell, and the WBC has quickly ordered Ryan Garcia to face Campbell. The Garcia vs. Campbell winner will be mandatory for WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.
Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) and former two-time world title challenger Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) will be fighting for the interim WBC 135-lb belt. The interim is less important than the winner of the Garcia-Campbell fight becoming mandatory for Haney (24-0, 15 KOs).
Campbell’s promoter Edie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, is over the moon with the news of the WBC ordering King Ryan vs. Campbell. This is a far better fight than the Fortuna v. Campbell match. There’s no comparison. It’s unclear why Fortuna pulled out of the fight.
Hearn excited about Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell
He would have had an excellent chance of beating the 32-year-old Campbell, as he tends to fall apart when he faces quality opposition. When Campbell stepped it up against Yvan Mendy, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Jorge Linares, he lost.
We haven’t heard anything from Ryan Garcia’s promoters at Golden Boy with their reaction to the WBC ordering the Campbell-Garcia fight. Golden Boy are the ones that are moving Ryan like he’s a chess piece.
If they don’t feel Ryan is ready to face Campbell, then they won’t let this fight happen. So it would be a good idea for fans to wait until Golden Boy responds to this because they may have other ideas.
With Fortuna pulling out of the @luke11campbell fight, we have just been notified that the WBC have ordered Campbell v @KingRyanG Great fight! @dazn_usa @goldenboy 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/9qxXzt3QrI
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) July 1, 2020
The purse split may be an area of contention for the Garcia-Campbell fight because Campbell and Hearn will want a 50-50 purse split. That’s probably not going to fly with the young 21-year-old King Ryan because he’s more popular. With Ryan’s massive fan base on social media, he’s quickly become the second most famous fighter in Golden Boy’s stable.
It doesn’t matter that Campbell has more experience against quality fighters in the pro ranks than Ryan. The popularity of the young Garcia makes him the logical choice to get the lion’s share of the revenue. A good split would be 70-30 in Ryan’s favor.
I don’t think Ryan could go lower than that. Campbell has already been beaten three times in his career, and he’s coming off of a 12 round decision defeat to Vasiliy Lomachenko last year on August 31. Campbell and Lomachenko fought for the vacant WBC lightweight belt. The WBC subsequently elevated Lomachenko to Franchise champion, and then let Haney know through email that he’s the WBC champ.
Ryan Garcia eager to face Campbell
“I’m finally getting to fight a southpaw, my favorite fighters to fight! Bring it on, Luke Campbell,” said Ryan Garcia on social media.
Will get my respect then! SHOCK THE WORLD!!
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) July 1, 2020
Ryan is getting a little carried away in talking about him about to shock the world. A win over Campbell wouldn’t shock the world. Campbell isn’t good enough for Ryan to get much of a boast for beating him.
If Campbell wasn’t beaten so many times in the past, then it would be a big deal. It’s become old hat for fighters to defeat the gatekeeper, Campbell. It would be a shock if Ryan DIDN’T beat Campbell because he’s the one with all the hype right now.
“Excellent fight for Garcia, perfect style matchup for him, IMO he clips him!” said Leonard Ellerbe of Mayweather Promotions in reacting to the WBC ordering Luke Campbell vs. Ryan Garcia.
