By Sean Jones: Ryan Garcia says he’s ready t send Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) into retirement on December 5th when they fight on DAZN at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California.
A loss for Campbell, 33, would be a tough blow for his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to take, as he’s predicting a win for him over Garcia on December 5th.
It’s pretty clear already that Campbell has failed to live up to the expectations of the many people that predicted that he would win world titles after he turned pro.
Campbell’s gold medal victory in the 2012 Olympics put a lot of pressure on him to do great things in the pro ranks, but he’s failed to do so. A loss to Ryan Garcia would be further confirmation that Campbell isn’t going to have a successful career.
Ryan Garcia not impressed with Campbell’s power
“I’m still the young gun coming up. I keep hearing that he’s going to knock me out,” said Ryan Garcia to Sky Sports Boxing. “You couldn’t even knock out a 126-pounder in Loma. He’s not going to beat me.
That’s just the facts of the matter. He’s talking a big game, but he’s going to learn real quick that I hit a lot harder than Loma,” said Garcia.
Campbell put a lot of hurt on Lomachenko in their fight in August 2019, and he got in a lot of licks in that contest. Yeah, Campbell lost the bout by a 12 round decision, but Lomachenko looked badly beaten at the end.
The southpaw Campbell showed excellent power against Lomachenko; the Ukrainian fighter was able to take his shots. A lot of fighters wouldn’t. If Campbell lands the same kinds of punches against Ryan that he did against Lomachenko, he might knock him out.
Garcia says he’s finishing Luke’s career
“This is his last chance, but I’m going to have to put the nail on the coffin now,” said Ryan. “I’m going to have to do that to him. He got a lot of quick chances. He got fast-tracked because he won the gold medal [in the 2012 Olympics].”
Campbell might not retire after losing to Ryan on December 5th, but his career will be pretty much over at that point. It would be Campbell’s fourth career defeat, and perhaps his worst depending on how he loses.
If Ryan knocks Campbell out the way he’s been doing lately against fighters like Francisco Fonseca and Romero Duno; he’ll be as good as done.
Campbell has already lost to these fighters:
- Yvan Mendy
- Jorge Linares
- Vasyl Lomachenko
Losing to Linares and Lomachenko isn’t bad, but Campbell’s defeat against Mendy was terrible. The 33-year-old Campbell would obviously take a defeat against the 22-year-old Ryan a lot harder, though, because he’s so young.
Many boxing fans pick Campbell to win this fight, but Ryan doesn’t care what they say. He feels he’s going to win, and he’s going to be acting as if he’s already done the job.
Sulaiman states Garcia vs. Campbell winner faces Haney
“The winner of Campbell and Garcia has to fight Haney,” said Sulaiman to Fighthype. “The winner of Haney-Gamboa will fight the winner of Garcia-Campbell. Why not?
“It’s a very interesting match and they’re fighting for this event. This is what they want. Garcia wants a title, and Campbell wants a title. Haney and Gamboa is a fight of great interest.
“Haney is going to fight the winner of Garcia-Campbell and the winner of Fortuna-Linares. Lopez is the Franchise champion, and he has no obligation to fulfill and he’s free to go out and fight other weight categories against other champions and against anyone in that scenario,” said Sulaiman.
A week ago, Ryan Garcia said that the fight he wants next after he dispatches Campbell is WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis.
Garcia isn’t interested in fighting Haney (24-0, 15 KOs). That’s a fight that Ryan wants after he beats Campbell and Tank.
Ryan, also named undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, is a fighter he wants to face after Tank. Haney is the last option for Ryan after he deals with Campbell, Tank, and Teofimo in that order.
It’ll be interesting to see what Sulaiman and the WBC choose to do if Ryan doesn’t go along with their fighting Haney plans. They’ll have to look in another direction for an opponent for Haney to fight, obviously.
Sulaiman’s good news is that Campbell isn’t talking about wanting to fight Teofimo or Tank Davis if he beats Ryan. Campbell will likely be more than happy to face Haney, which would arguably be the weakest of the three champions to fight.
Tank and Teofimo are on another level than Haney right now, and he’s someone that Campbell matches up with better than he would against Teofimo or Tank.
