By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia is recommending that fans don’t blink during his fight against Luke Campbell for this Saturday on January 2nd in their fight at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The lack of attention that Ryan is putting on his opponent Campbell ties into what Luke’s trainer Shane McGuigan has been saying about what he’s observed in him. McGugan believes that Garcia has signs of having ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder].
The unbeaten Ryan (20-0, 17 KOs) expects to obliterate Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) right away, and then call out Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. That’s the fight that Ryan wants next, and he doesn’t care about WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney. That guy isn’t on his agenda for his next fight.
Ryan’s World Boxing Council ordered fight against Campbell is supposed to be to pick a winner to face Haney (25-0, 15 KOs). Indeed, Garcia and Campbell are fighting for the interim WBC lightweight title, and it’s to find out who the next opponent will be for Devin.
During an interview on Monday, King Ryan showed no interest in talking about Campbell. Instead, he spoke about wanting to fight Tank Davis and other lightweights like Teofimo Lopez. Ryan minimized Teofimo’s recent win over Vasily Lomachenko, saying that it wasn’t a big deal because he was fighting a smaller guy.
Ryan Garcia not focused on Campbell
“Don’t blink, that’s all I ask you to do,” said Ryan Garcia to Fighthype about his fight this Saturday. “I expect him to make it short so I can get into the ring quicker,” Ryan said about his brother Sean Garcia, who is fighting on the undercard.
“I want to get into the ring as quick as possible. Look for the call-out after I beat Luke Campbell. f*** Devin Haney. I’m not chasing mandatory’s. I’m chasing legacies.
“Tank is a legacy fight. Devin Haney is a mandatory fight, but I want a legacy fight. So I’m going after Tank Davis, but you already knew that. Devin is one of my favorite fighters in the lightweight division, and I’ve been knowing him for a while,” said Ryan.
It would be a good idea for Ryan Garcia to worry about his fight with Campbell on Saturday because he’s talking like he already has the match won. More than that, Ryan is already speaking as if he’s beaten Tank as well. Ryan is talking as if he doesn’t have both feet firmly planted on the ground.
I can see what McGuigan means when he says he thinks Ryan has got ADD. Ryan seems like he’s having difficulty attending to the task at hand, and is sounding distracted.
Ryan needs to keep his focus on Campbell because he could be walking into a world of hurt on Saturday with the way he’s always looking past him.
Tank Davis is next, says Ryan Garcia
“So I got nothing but respect for Devin,” said Ryan Garcia. “But I definitely want to fight Tank Davis next. I will fight Devin. I’m fighting everybody; I don’t care.
“You see, I’m fighting Luke Campbell, a real 135-pounder. In my class in my division. Lomachenko at 135, to me, I’m not impressed by that. Lomachenko is 126.
“To me, Teofimo has got to fight me, he’s got to fight, he’s got to fight Gervonta to be considered the best 135-pounder. You’re not the best because you beat a 126-pounder [Lomachenko].
“In my heart, you’re not the best at 130. How can you be considered the best at 135? Who did Lomachenko beat? He beat Luke Campbell. Are you sure about that?” Ryan Garcia asked when told that Lomachenko had beaten Jose Pedraza, who is a good fighter.
“Are they young and of the talent? I think Lomachenko is good, but at that weight [135], he don’t got the speed, and he don’t got the explosion. He can control people in his weight class at 130 and 126 because that’s him.
“But to me, he’s not a Manny Pacquiao that carries that weight. You’ve got to be a legend to go up those weight classes or Canelo. The world is going to see that I’m going to take on the best fighters.
“I’m going to take on the people that they do not want to fight. They don’t want to fight Tank Davis. Tank Davis is a destroyer; Tank Davis is a bear. King Davis goes in there and knocks you out. I’m going to fight him, and I’m going to beat him so they’ll see,” Ryan Garcia said.
It’s too bad Golden Boy Promotions fed Garcia so many lesser fighters because it’s done something to his ego, and he doesn’t have the caution that he needs for this fight.
The respect that Ryan should have for his opponent Campbell is absent, and that’s troubling. He doesn’t see Campbell as any problem for him, which is odd given how talented this fighter is.
Ryan is acting like he’s facing another one of the second-tier fodder-level opponents is promoters at Golden Boy have dug up for him.