Ryan Garcia wants Manny Pacquiao fight after Tank Davis

By Boxing News - 01/14/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia says he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao after he beats Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis this year.

Although Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) says he respects the former eight-division world champion, Pacquiao, he wants to fight him because he’s always admired him.

For Ryan, 22, to get a fight against Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), he’ll likely need to go up two weight classes to meet him at 147. Manny is a nice guy, but he probably won’t want to drop down to 135 to meet King Ryan in his own weight class at lightweight.

Fighting at 140 might be an option, but Pacquiao doesn’t need to give concessions to a fighter who has never won a world title.

Ryan is popular more because of his social media presence than what he’s done during his five-year professional career. He needs a win over Tank Davis to show that he’s worthy of consideration for a fight against Pacquiao.

Ryan Garcia targeting Pacquiao after Tank fight

“Manny Pacquiao is everything I aspire to be at a champion. Him and Muhammad Ali, people like that,” said Ryan Garcia to the Pug and Copp Boxing Show. “He messaged me and said, ‘Ryan, it’s your turn to inspire others.’

Image: Ryan Garcia wants Manny Pacquiao fight after Tank Davis

“‘It hit my heart. He’s inspired a whole country [Philippines], and more. I thought, ‘Wow, he really thinks I have the opportunity to inspire everybody.’

“And I think him for that, I think him for those kind words. I still want to fight him after Gervonta. Out of respect, I couldn’t even talk smack because that’s someone that I’ve looked up to, somebody I wanted to be,” said Ryan Garcia about wanting to fight Manny Pacquiao after Tank.

“I think I would just fight him because I want to be in the ring against somebody I looked up to,” said King Ryan.

It’s great that Ryan is already planning his next fight after his match with Tank Davis, but he needs to focus on that match.

For Ryan to be talking about wanting to fight the 42-year-old Pacquiao AFTER the Tank fight, it feeds into the label that Luke Campbell had for him.

Shane McGuigan says he sees ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder] traits in Ryan with his ability to focus on the task at hand.

It’s admirable that Ryan wants to fight the legend Pacquiao, but what good is that if he gets blasted to pieces by Tank Davis? Pacquiao isn’t going to waste time if Ryan is knocked out by Davis.

Canelo has taught Ryan a lot

“He’s taught me a lot about myself,” said King Ryan in talking about Canelo Alvarez. “I know when I was younger, I never knew Canelo.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants Manny Pacquiao fight after Tank Davis

“You know, Canelo is so private. He’s not very outspoken with his feelings, and stuff like that. So I didn’t automatically connect with him when he was younger.

“I didn’t feel anything towards Canelo. But the more I got to know him, you see why he is a champion. He doesn’t have to say anything.

“You just kind of respect it, and the more I got to know Canelo, he’s a great guy and a very humble guy. He’s a guy that you want to be in your corner, and I have him in my corner.

“I have someone like that in my corner. He keeps me in check, but he also supports me when it’s time.

“That right there is a big brother, I feel like. He reminds me of having a big brother, who was a better boxer than me. I get a chance to learn from my big brother, and I love it,” said Ryan Garcia.

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Canelo needs to work on Ryan’s head and upper body movement, as he’s too upright and easy to hit. Ryan made improvements to his game from the body-punching that Canelo has been working with him on.

What’s more important than Ryan’s body punching is for him to learn how to keep from getting hit by opposition, especially now that he’s ready to take on the elite at 135.

Garcia’s next three fights: Tank, Pacquiao, and Haney

“This man isn’t afraid of anything at any time. You can try and get me any way you want,” said Ryan Garcia to the AK & Barak show about Tank Davis.

Image: Ryan Garcia wants Manny Pacquiao fight after Tank Davis

“There’s going to be people that believe in me and people that don’t. You just got to wait and see. Gervonta, Manny Pacquiao, and then I’m going straight for Devin Haney,” said King Ryan when giving his next three fights.

“I want the world to think that I won’t be able to do it,” said Ryan Garcia on the Shawn Porter Podcast about his prediction of a victory over Tank Davis.

“I don’t fear nothing. Yes, we got that on lock,” said Ryan about Tank agreeing to fight him. He cannot run no more. He committed. I said, ‘You committed to it. Everybody seen it. You cannot go anywhere else. There’s no other fight.’

“It’s set, I’m excited. I don’t know if he’s running,” said Ryan Garcia on Tank Davis. “Honestly, I just want to make sure this fight gets made.

“If he has any doubts, I’m going to pressure him so much. They’re going to have to look at him, ‘Gervonta, come on, man. You’re letting this guy talk all he wants, and you don’t want to accept it.’

“That’s my approach on it. I know this fight needs to be made, so I will do whatever it takes to get it made. I told you all, I’m going all in,” said Ryan Garcia.

Whatever secret plan that Ryan has for him to defeat Gervonta Davis, it’s going to need to be a great one. Right now, almost no one is picking Garcia to defeat Tank.

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What boxing fans saw of Ryan in his last fight against Luke Campbell didn’t impress.

Getting knocked down in the second round by Campbell was bad, but that wasn’t the only glaring defect that Ryan showed in that fight. He was getting hit a lot throughout the fight and getting backed up by a little power guy.