By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Eddy Reynoso is already looking beyond Ryan Garcia’s fight against Luke Campbell tonight towards mega-fights in the lightweight division against Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, and Devin Haney.
We’ll see tonight if Ryan has the goods to beat a top-five lightweight contender in 33-year-old Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs).
The two will be battling in the main event on DAZN at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The interim WBC lightweight belt will be at stake, which will enable the winner to challenge champion Devin Haney.
Eddy sounds hopeful about Ryan’s future, but it’s possible that he’s caught the gold fever and doesn’t see that it’s ‘fool’s gold’ that he’s looking at instead of the genuine 24K.
Reynoso, who has only been training the 22-year-old King Ryan (20-0, 17 KOs) for several months, believes he can quickly rise to the top of boxing if he’s disciplined.
With so many unknowns about Ryan’s capabilities and future, it seems that Reynoso is getting ahead of himself in talking about possible fights for the popular social media star.
Thus far, all we know is King Ryan can beat the second-tier level opposition that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions have been shoveling into the ring to face him.
When they stepped Garcia up against solid journeyman fighter Carlos Morales, he mentally fell apart from the pressure. Golden Boy has been careful ever since, putting Ryan in with flawed guys that were perfect for him to look good against.
Reynoso planning big things for Ryan Garcia
“It’s an exciting fight; we’re going to see what Ryan has learned in the past few months,” said King Ryan’s new trainer Eddy Reynoso to Little Giant Boxing about his fight against Campbell. “It’s going to be a fight that measures where Ryan is really at.
“Let’s beat Campbell, then I think in 2021, we’ll be on the path to fight Teofimo [Lopez], [Vasily] Lomachenko, Tank Davis, and Devin Haney,” Reynoso said about mega-fights for Ryan Garcia at 135. We’re working good, and we’re on the right path.”
“There’s many,” said Reynoso about Ryan Garcia having a lot of options for mega-fights. “Those [Gervonta Davis, Tefoimo Lopez, and Devin Haney] are big fights that are interesting. That’s a great division [135] in boxing.”
Ryan’s fight against Campbell won’t tell us how he’ll do against the talented lightweights in the division like Tank, Lomachenko, Teofimo, or Haney.
Reynoso might be a good trainer, but he clearly doesn’t know how far of a gulf between the elite-level 135-pounders and Campbell. The top guys are at the end of the universe in comparison to where Campbell is at.
If you’re Ryan Garcia, he needs to put this fight with the chinny Campbell in perspective. He’s facing a fighter that has failed three times during his seven-year professional career when he’s faced good opposition.
In two of Campbell’s defeats, he lost to B-level fighters in Jorge Linares and Yvan Mendy, which tells you all you need to know about him. If Campbell were worth being used as a measuring stick for Ryan, he wouldn’t have lost to Mendy and Linares.
All we’re going to find out tonight is if Ryan is in the same category as 37-year-old Linares and little known Mendy. A victory over Campbell doesn’t mean that Ryan will be ready to take on Tank Davis, Lomachenko, or Teofimo.
Yeah, Ryan can certainly fight those guys after a win over Campbell tonight, but it’ll be stupid because he’s not shown the kind of talent to beat those guys.
If you go off how one-dimensional and uncoordinated Ryan has looked in all of his 20-fights as a professional, he’s not ready for Tank, Lomachenko, or Teofimo. Ryan might be ready for the 21-year-old Devin Haney, but he’s not an elite lightweight yet.
Campbell will show what level Ryan is at
“Yes, Ryan has KO power with one punch,” Reynoso continued when asked about the potential of Garcia knocking out Campbell in the first round like he’s done against his last two opponents. “Ryan can end a fight with either of his two hands.
“Ryan Garcia has a lot of abilities to counter-attack as well. We have a lot of confidence, we’re working very well, and we’re laser-focused, and we have to keep working.
“He’s an excellent boxer, a very disciplined fighter with a lot of qualities, but I have faith that Ryan has more tools, hits harder, and has better boxing skills,” said Reynoso when asked about his assessment of Luke Campbell.
“He’s showed it here in the gym, but the previous fights he’s had haven’t shown everything Ryan Garcia has. That’s why I think this fight will show the level he’s at,” Reynoso said about Kingry Ryan.
It’s certainly true that Campbell will partly show where Ryan is at, but Reynoso is kidding himself if he thinks that a knockout victory for his guy will mean he’s ready to fight the best.
Even if Reynoso has his eyes open and understands that Ryan isn’t ready to fight the elite-level lightweights after tonight, it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to slow his momentum towards those fights.
Ryan is in a big hurry with his career, as he wants to wrap it up quickly within four years so he can retire at 26. With Ryan’s accelerated timeline, he has no time to develop the way normal fighters do.
Ryan isn’t interested in the prerequisite opponents. In an arguably foolhardy manner, he’s gambling that he can go from fighting Campbell straight to the top to defeat the top guys.
It makes little sense what Ryan is doing, but it shows you how he’s become drunk on the success he’s had against the lesser opposition he’s been matched against.
Reynoso believes Ryan Garcia can reach the top in boxing
“Honestly, Ryan has a lot of qualities, and he’s a spectacular fighter,” Reynoso said when asked if he can develop Garcia the way he developed Canelo Alvarez. “He has it all to reach the very top of boxing.
“I think that the age that he’s at, he’s getting better and better,” Reynoso said of Ryan Garcia. “The pandemic really set us back. I see Ryan having a bright future as long as he does things right and with discipline.”
Reynoso doesn’t say what he means by saying that Ryan Garcia can reach the “top of boxing.” You have to assume that Reynoso is talking about Ryan becoming the #1 star in the sport, which is so crazy.
Ryan Garcia gives us his 2021 fight wish list 📝 (including one name you definitely won’t expect 👀) pic.twitter.com/jRpDSU5pkI
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 2, 2021
It would make sense for Eddy to be talking that way about Ryan if he’d already beaten the likes of Tank, Haney, and Lomachenko and was ready to take on Teofmo Lopez to become the top dog at 135.
But we’re talking about a fighter whose most important win is a controversial 10-round majority decision victory over Carlos Morales.
Ryan needs a level-headed approach to his career. We do not see that happen, especially with his trainer Reynoso talking about him being on the verge of becoming the top guy. Reynoso is starting to sound like Ryan’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who mentioned recently that he sees him earning $700 million in his career.
Where De La Hoya got that number from is anyone’s guess. I’m wondering why De La Hoya didn’t just $1 billion for King Ryan. I mean, if you’re shooting for an eye-catching number, why stop at $700 million? Heck, go for $1 billion. It sounds better.