By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoya is counting on veteran Luke Campbell going straight into the teeth of Ryan Garcia’s offense this Saturday night to show.
De La Hoya believes that if Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) got right at Ryan (20-0 17 KOs), he’ll make mistakes that will result in him getting knocked out. Of course, it could work in reverse if Campbell comes after the inexperienced Ryan.
It’s possible that the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell will knockout Ryan, and show that he’s not good enough to cut it against upper-tier fighters.
With Canelo Alvarez having departed from Golden Boy Promotions, it’s vital that the young 22-year-old Garcia shine against Campbell. Although Ryan has a tremendous following on social media, they’re not paying boxing fans.
They’re teens, many of them, and they’re not the type that is going to subscribe to DAN in high numbers.
For Ryan to become a legitimate star in boxing, he’s got to prove that he can beat fighters like Campbell, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Teofimo Lopez, and Devin Haney.
Campbell wants to walk through Garcia
“I think Luke Campbell is coming into this fight wanting to prove to the young kid, the new kid on the block, that this veteran here is just going to walk right through you,” said De La Hoya to Fighthype.
“So I think Campbell is going to come right at him, and maybe put the pressure. That’s where Ryan is going to shine. He’s going to wait for Campbell to make mistakes, and probably eventually knock him out.
“It’s going to be a difficult fight, but once Ryan figures him out, he’ll probably knock him out.
“He [Campbell] should [hold his ground] because he’s the Olympic gold medalist, and he’s the guy that has been up there with world champions. So he’s the guy with more confidence.
“And so he should come forward and not hold back. So I think if that happens, we’re going to have an exciting fight. I think if he knocks him out in the eighth or ninth round, that’ll impress me,” De La Hoya said about Ryan Garcia.
“In the first round, maybe you caught him cold, and you were too fast for him and caught him off guard,” said Oscar about his belief that Ryan won’t receive full credit from boxing fans if he knocks Campbell out early.
“But if you go eight or nine rounds and you go into deep waters and you still knock him out, that’s pretty impressive,” said De La Hoya.
It might not be a good idea for De La Hoya and Golden Boy is the big southpaw Campbell puts pressure on Ryan, as he’s got the power and the boxing skills to blast him out.
Oscar not feeling pressure to turn Ryan Garcia into a star
“No pressure whatsoever,” Oscar said when asked if he’s feeling pressure to have Ryan take over as Golden Boy’s cash cow now that Canelo Alvarez is gone. “We’ve been in this position before.
“When I was promoting Deontay Wilder, and when I was promoting Danny Garcia and when I was promoting Errol Spence, and when I was promoting all the top guys, Leo Santa Cruz, when Al Haymon took them to PBC, we were in the same position as I am now.
“This is not uncharted wars. This is something that makes me, like a fighter, you’ve got to prove again and again. We have Ryan Garcia, we have [Jaime] Munguia, we have Vergil [Ortiz Jr], who is probably going to be the best champion out there for many years to come.
“So we have a lot of young fighters that we’re building, and we have some great, great prospects. So this is something that we do best. I don’t panic, I never panic.
“I don’t think to myself, ‘My God, this is the end. You just have to reinvent yourself to work extra hard to get inside the ring to prove o people that you can do it,” said De La Hoya.
The twenty lower-level fighters that Ryan has faced as a pro likely wouldn’t stand a chance against Campbell.
That’s why this fight is so difficult to predict because Ryan’s opposition has been incredibly poor, and Golden Boy is taking a big risk in letting him face Campbell.
De La Hoya hopes to lure Canelo back
“As a man, I respect him, and as a fighter, I respect him,” De La Hoya said about Canelo Alvarez.
“Business is business. I think our paths will cross once again. He’s a free agent. I know that money is important, and business is very important. So that’s right up my alley.
“There’s no reason why we can’t offer him a very lucrative deal and lure him in once again. That’s why promoters are promoters. You have to present the best deals possible.
“So I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll promote him again. Not with me,” said De La Hoya when asked if there are any bridges burned with Canelo. We don’t talk. I’m sure there are no bridges burned.
“I’m in training. It’s going to be between 154 and 159,” said De La Hoya about him preparing for a comeback. 160 was too much.”
It’s very unlikely that Canelo will ever return to Golden Boy Promotions unless they offer him a huge amount of money for a fight that he feels is a gimme.
Canelo is his own promoter right now, and he’s got a good thing going beating the paper champions at 168 on DAZN and making good money. The only way that Golden Boy can lure Canelo back is if they’re able to overpay him for someone that he feels confident he can beat.
It’s safe to say that you’re not going to see Canelo come back to Golden Boy for a fight or two against the likes of Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, and Benavidez.
Those guys would give Canelo issues, and it wouldn’t be smooth sailing for him like we’re seeing now his mismatches against the weak 168-pound champions.