Jorge Linares predicts win for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

By Boxing News - 08/05/2020 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Jorge Linares is predicting a victory for Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) against Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) if the fight gets made between them this year. The former three-division world champion

Linares likes the speed and the power of the 21-year-old ‘Kingry’ Ryan, but he thinks he’s going to have a difficult time against Luke.

The highly talented Linares notes that this is a massive step up in class for Garcia against the 32-year-old Campbell, and he hasn’t had anyone is close to being as good as the British fighter.

Ryan’s promoters letting him take a huge risk

Golden Boy Promotions may have chosen to let Ryan take this fight to keep him happy, but it’s not the type of contest that you would typically see one of the high-powered promoters make.

Golden Boy didn’t throw their flagship fighter, Canelo Alvarez when he was 21. Canelo fought four times in 2011 when he was Ryan’s age, and he wasn’t matched against anyone as good as Luke Campbell.

They were matching him against guys like Kermit Cintron, Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, and Alfonso Gomez. But they were also keeping Canelo very busy at 21, and he had a lot of great learning fights.

Ryan won’t be able to knockout Campbell in the first or second round like he’s been doing lately against the inferior opposition that is being fed to him by his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions.

Image: Jorge Linares predicts win for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

Linares predicts Ryan Garcia beats Campbell

“I’m so happy the fight with him, and Luke Campbell happened,” said Linares to Fighthub in talking about Ryan Garcia vs. Luke. “That’s a terrific fight for him because you can see how good of a boxer he is. Luke Campbell, in his last fight against Lomachenko, he was confused by Lomachenko a lot of times. Do you know what I mean?

“I think yes, but not easy,” said Linares when asked if he thinks Ryan will beat Campbell. “He needs to be very ready for that fight. It’s not like one round or two rounds,” said Linares.

It works in Linares’ favor if Ryan beats Campbell because Golden Boy will probably match the young Garcia against him next. A lot of boxing fans believe Campbell is too talented for Ryan, and they don’t see him being capable of winning.

What Ryan needs is more experience before facing a guy like Campbell, but he’s not going to get the time. The World Boxing Council has already ordered the Garcia-Campbell fight, and Ryan ahs accepted the match.

Luke will be a tough opponent for Ryan

“He’s technical, you know?” said Linares when asked why Campbell is such a tough opponent for Ryan.

“He [Campbell] has a lot of talent and a lot of experience in the amateurs and professionals. So I think that’s a very good fight for Ryan Garcia. I think 12 rounds,” Linares said in predicting Garcia vs. Campbell goes 12 rounds.

Image: Jorge Linares predicts win for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

Ryan’s stamina is going to be tested by Campbell because he’s probably not going to be able to knock him out in the first or second round like we’ve seen seeing him do against other opposition.

“I saw last Sunday the fight between him and me [Lomachenkol]. For five rounds, I was thinking, ‘I’m going to kill him in this round,’ but he broke me. He’s not an easy opponent,” said Linares.

Campbell will be a hard fight for Ryan, especially if the match goes the full 12 rounds. We could see Ryan struggle and potentially come apart if Campbell applies pressure.

The fighters that have done well against Garcia in the pro ranks have pressured him and backed him up. Ryan gives ground easy and often winds up with his back against the ropes, covering up. If Ryan does that frequently against Campbell, he might get knocked out.

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Linares explains why Ryan Garcia isn’t fighting him

“I think it was maybe because of that [about travel difficulties from Japan to the U.S], and maybe he’s [Ryan] not ready,” said Linares. “Come on, he’s not ready for that, especially when he saw my last fight [against Carlos Morales],” said Linares when asked why Golden Boy chose not to give him the fight against King Ryan.

“I think so, yes. Why? Because he’s a young guy, and he’s fast, but all the opponents he’s fought are not real boxers. So he’s not ready to make a big fight against somebody like me,” said Linares.

“You don’t need to ask me that. You need to ask Ryan Garcia and his team,” said Linares when asked why he’s not facing Ryan next instead of Fortuna.

“If you asked me, ‘Who do you want to fight? I tell you the best thing. Very honest, right? Ryan Garcia, anywhere and anytime.’ If Golden Boy called me right now and said, ‘Let’s change the opponent. Let’s do the fight with Ryan Garcia.’ Yes, let’s do it. Why not? Do you know what I mean?’ said Linares.

Golden Boy would have matched Ryan against Linares, but the pandemic has gotten in the way of making the fight. Also, Linares was complaining recently about having problems getting his training team together, and looked like he wasn’t ready.

What Linares says about Ryan not being ready to fight him has a grain of truth. He doesn’t look like he’s prepared to fight Linares, but he also doesn’t seem prepared to fight Campbell.

You’ve got to respect Ryan and Golden Boy for being willing to set up fights with Linares and Campbell. It’s either a bold move or a stupid one depending on who you ask.

Image: Jorge Linares predicts win for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

Jorge willing to face Ryan after Fortuna

“But at the same time, thank you, God, for Javier Fortuna. I can train very well here [in Japan]. Maybe the fight happens with Ryan Garcia.

“I need to think about who is going to train with me because it’s not easy with this situation to make a good training camp, but we’ll see.

“I’m still focused on this fight [with Javier Fortuna], and then we can talk about Ryan Garcia again. Why not?” said Linares.

The former WBA super featherweight champion Fortuna (35-2-1, 24 KOs) and Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) are fighting this month on August 28 on DAZN at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Golden Boy might choose to revisit the Garcia vs. Linares fight if Ryan beats Campbell with flying colors. It would be a good move for Ryan to face Linares before moving to the next level to take on the unbeaten Devin Haney.

Linares would be a riskier fight for Ryan than Campbell, though, given his hand speed, power, technical ability, and experience. What we saw from Linares in his last fight against Carlos Morales, he’s far ahead of Ryan in technical skill, even at 34. Image: Jorge Linares predicts win for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell

Linares is a fighter that was taught, and with Ryan, he looks more like a guy that has learned the sport on his own without great trainers to help him.

It’s a great fight for DAZN and a crucial one for Linares and Fortuna. The winner of this will get a title shot against WBC 135lb champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs).