By Jeff Aronow: Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell both will have a lot to prove when they step inside the ring on December 5th to fight for the interim WBC lightweight title on DAZN.
This is one of those fights that is truly 50-50, as neither of these guys has distinguished themselves against elite-level opposition up to this point. Although Garcia is unbeaten and has scored a ton of highlight reel knockouts, his opposition has been pedestrian at best. That makes it difficult to predict an outcome in this fight.
There’s a big difference between the substandard opponents that Garcia has been padding his resume with and the talent that Campbell will b brining to the ring with him
Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya, believes a win for King Ryan will catapult him to the next level to turn him into a star. But it’s possible that could turn out to be a disaster for Garcia with him losing to Campbell, and being put in a position where he needs to rebuild his career for a year or two.
Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) says December 5th will be the beginning of a new era, but we’re going to have to see about that. Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) and his promoter Eddie Hearn believe that the 22-year-old Garcia is making a mistake in taking this fight, and he’s going to be handed his first career defeat.
“Dec 5th – the talking stops Boxing glove #Coolhand,” said the 33-year-old Campbell on Twitter.
Campbell has the opportunity to stunt Garcia’s career by beating him decisively in this fight. That’s what Luke is counting on doing, as he’s tired of hearing all the trash talk from Ryan. He wants to shut him up and put him in his place on December 5th.
Garcia-Campbell is a fight that has been talked about for months now, and it’s finally here. Ryan could have taken other fights against Jorge Linares and Javier Fortuna, but he chose to face the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell.
Garcia may see the Campbell fight as a calculated risk for him because the British fighter has already been beaten by Linares, Yvan Mend, and Vasily Lomachenko.
Garcia’s decision to face Campbell rather than Linares would suggest that he’d rather have the loser of that fight than the winner, and that move reeks of him choosing to take a calculated risk.
At this point, King Ryan has to make a move with his career because he’s done so much bragging about himself and his abilities. With the talking that he’s done, it would look bad if he had chosen not to fight Campbell.
The World Boxing Council are the ones that initiated the Garcia-Campbel fight by ordering them to fight in a title for their WBC interim strap. Had the WBC not made that move, it’s unknown if these guys would have fought.
Ryan was being matched against lower fringe level fighters at 135, and he might have continued along that path if not for the WBC.
“This is a great fight in what is probably the hottest division in boxing right now,” said Campbell’s promoter Eddoe Hearn.
“Luke is fearless in the challenges he takes and is ready to score a major victory in December against Ryan Garcia. Luke has been operating at the elite end of the division for a long time, and although Ryan is an exceptional young talent, I truly believe Luke’s pedigree and experience will be too much for him.”
As long as Luke stays out of the way of Ryan’s left hook, he’s got a better than even shot at winning the fight. Ryan has a lot of power, but only in his left hook.
He’s not been able to develop anything with his right hand as of yet, and that’ll make it easy for Campbell to nullify that weaon if he doesn’t have anything else to rely on.
“I’m excited to bring the fans an escape for the night… or based on my track record, a few minutes at most.,” said Ryan Garcia. “Luke’s record speaks for itself, but I’m ready to prove the doubters wrong. This is my era now, and December 5th just the start of it.”
Start of an era 💫 DECEMBER 5th 🥊 LETS GOO!!!! pic.twitter.com/sJvE01G4bg
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) October 8, 2020