By Matt Lieberman: In a move to accommodate a stacked evening of fights, Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) vs. Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) may happen earlier in the day in the afternoon on December 5th to keep the important match from bumping heads with the evening pay-per-view match between Errol Spence Jr and Danny Garcia.
Steve Kim of ESPN says the Garcia-Campbell lightweight bout could get moved to the afternoon on December 5th to keep the fight from going up against Spence vs. Danny ‘Swift’ in the evening.
It’s a good move on DAZN’s part if they place the Garcia match in the afternoon.
The December 5th date has three great fights taking place on different network platforms in the United States, and it’s wise for Garcia and Campbell to be moved.
December 5 Boxing schedule
- Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia – FOX Sports pay-per-view
- Tyson Fury vs. TBA – ESPN
- Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell – DAZN
Ryan vs. Luke for interim WBA 135lb title
Of the three major fights that will be taking place on December 5th, King Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell is the best of the lot thus far.
Unless IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KOs) has lost something from his terrible October car crash from last year, he should beat former two-division world champion, Danny Garcia without too many issues.
As far as WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) goes, his promoter Bob Arum has already signaled that he will take a safe title defense against one of the small handful of fighters that he has in mind.
None of them are good enough contenders to give Fury any problems whatsoever, and the amount of fan interest in his fight will be minimal. That works in Ryan and Campbell’s favor because they’re the only highly visible competitive fight on the December 5th schedule.
Of course, you can’t rule out Fury choosing to take on a good heavyweight on that date instead of one of the five candidates that Arum has laid out, but he’s not expected to do that.
What Garcia and Campbell have worked against them trying to compete with the other important matches on that date is that it won’t have a world title at stake.
Garcia, 22, and Campbell will be battling for the interim WBC lightweight strap, a temporary title. The official champion with the World Boxing Council is Devin Haney at 135.
Ryan Garcia looking hard to beat
Garcia has been obliterating everyone that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions have put in front of him since 2019, and he like he’s improved since 2018. Campbell is a good fighter and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, but he’s tasted the canvas many times during his seven-year professional career.
Fighters that have dropped Campbell:
- Yvan Mendy
- Argenis Mendez
- Jorge Linares
- Vasily Lomachenko
There appears to be a chin problem with Luke, and that’s not good given that he’s about to fight the hardest puncher in the 135-lb division in Ryan Garcia.
Two years ago, Ryan went life and death in beating Carlos Morales by a 10 round majority decision. Ryan was wilting in that fight from the pressure that Morales was putting on him, but he’s a different fighter now.
Since 2019, King Ryan has blasted out his last four opponents, and he appears to have made his left-hook smash punch a more potent weapon during that time.
Currently, the 33-year-old Campbell is coming off of a loss to Vasily Lomachenko last year, and it’s unknown what kind of performance we’ll get from him. Sometimes Campbell looks great in beating his opponents, but then he falls apart in losses to Lomachenko, Yvan Mendy, and Jorge Linares.
Luke needs to be at his best
If Campbell brings his A-game on December 5th, he could give Ryan all he could handle, and he may even beat him. What Luke has working against him is the hard fight he just went through against Lomachenko in 2019, as well as his age.
At 33, Campbell is 11 years older than Garcia, and he’s got a lot of mileage on him from his amateur and pro careers. Luke needs to be fresh and full of energy and ideas to withstand the left-hook smash punch that Ryan will be landing on him in this fight. I
t’s impossible for Campbell to avoid that punch for the entire 12 rounds without Ryan dropping it on him numerous times.
“So there is some thought being given to having the Ryan Garcia-Luke Campbell fight in the afternoon on Dec 5. Later that night, Spence-Garcia takes place on PPV. Also, now it looks like Fury will fight that day… #Boxing,” said @StevESPNKim