By Charles Brun: Ryan Garcia says he wants to prolong the punishment that he inflicts on Luke Campbell on January 2, and he doesn’t want to end the fight early in their clash on DAZN.
If King Ryan (20-0, 17 KOs) does hurt Campbell (20-0, 17 KOs), he says he’ll take him out, but he’s not going to be looking to stop him.
There’s been too much trash talk between the two fighters, and Ryan, 22, appears to want to prolong the agony for the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell.
Campbell, 33, and Garcia will be in the main event on January 2nd in a Golden Boy Promotions card at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. Garcia needs a win over Campbell to progress to the next level to challenge WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Another reason why Garcia doesn’t want to look too good in defeating Campbell is that he’s concerned about Floyd Mayweather Jr, the promoter for Davis, deciding not to make the fight between them.
Ryan feels that if he looks vulnerable, he’ll get the fight with Davis, but not if he shines.
Garcia wants to punish Campbell
“That’s the spirit in me, I’m really competitive, and I want to fight the best,” said Ryan Garcia. “When you do something amazing, you get the shine. I’ve already done that with Fonseca, but here’s what I’m looking to do in this fight. I want to punish Luke Campbell.
“I don’t want it to be a quick knockout. If it’s there, I’ll take it, but I want to show everybody how I can put on a clinic surgically, landing my shots, getting in and out.
“I just want to show everybody what I can do. If he gets knocked out like everybody else, what can I say?” said Ryan Garcia.
It will be interesting to see how much punishment that Campbell can take before he bows out of the fight. Ryan doesn’t know his own strength when it comes to his left hooks. He says he only wants to land clean shots, not glancing blows.
As we’ve seen in Ryan’s recent fights, no one has been able to get past the first couple of rounds after nailed them with his powerful left hook. Campbell is a good fighter, but his mandible is his weak spot.
He’s tasted the canvas several times since he turned pro in 2013, and he’s just as vulnerable to heavy shots as the recent fighters that Garcia has beaten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIzbzK-td2A&t=7s
King Ryan’s recent knockout victims:
- Francisco Fonseca – KO 1
- Romero Duno – KO 1
- Jose Lopez RTD 2
- Braulio Rodriguez – KO 5
Garcia isn’t just stopping his opponents; he’s knocking them out in a clinical fashion. Let me tell you, that’s bad news for Campbell because he’s really up against it in this fight.
With that amateur style that Campbell uses, he’s going to be walking into many heavy left hooks from King Ryan.
King Ryan: Luke Campbell fights like an amateur
“Luke, to me, fights very amateur-like. That’s not going to work in this professional game, and I’m going to show him what I’ve learned,” Ryan said. “He’s not going to expect it, and that’s all I got to say.
“If I obliterate Luke Campbell in one round and look amazing, he’s not going to fight me, I guarantee it. I’ll put it out there right now. If I beat him the way I expect to beat him, he’s [Tank Davis] not going to take it. If he sees vulnerability, he might take it, but I don’t care that.
“Our camp focuses on landing the clean shots, the hard ones,” said Ryan Garcia. “Not baby taps.”
The amateur style that Campbell uses works in terms of winning rounds, but it’s not an effective style for keeping powerful guys like Ryan off of him. If Campbell wants to survive for long against Ryan, he will need to sit down more on his shots.