By Jeff Aronow: Ryan Garcia is digging in his heels and insisting that he will ONLY be fighting Manny Pacquiao or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in his next fight. He claims that if he’s offered anyone else, his answer will be “No.”
Ryan isn’t saying whether he’ll hold out and stay inactive until he gets the fight with one of those two. He’ll only be punishing himself if he chooses to stay idle until Pacquiao or Tank agrees to fight him. That would be a childish move by holding out.
Ryan says he’s not interested in fighting WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney, as he views that as a “backward” step for him in his career.
It’s unclear what’s happening with Ryan and Pacquiao, though, as they were supposedly going to fight. At least that’s what the 22-year-old King Ryan was saying.
Ryan even put Tank to the side because he was so confident that he’d be fighting Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs). But it doesn’t look like the Pacquiao fight will be taking place next because Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya is saying they’ve had no discussions with his management about a fight with Ryan.
De La Hoya says he doesn’t even know who represents Pacquiao for him to contact.
Ryan ONLY wants Pacquiao or Tank
‘It’s a fight that people are not going to want to miss,” said Ryan Garcia to Little Giant Boxing about a contest between him and Pacquiao. “It’s a monumental fight—there’ only two fights that I want, Gervonta or Manny.
“I’m not fighting anybody unless it’s those two. I don’t care about anybody else; IÂ want to make that real clear. I’m not fighting anybody else other than Manny Pacquiao or Gervonta Davis. If you tell me any other person, I say no,” said Ryan.
It would be a sign of maturity on Ryan’s part if he chose to fight the best available fighter if he can’t get Manny or Gervona because he’s got to keep his career going.
With Pacquiao, he wants a big-money fight against a top welterweight, and he may not want to deal with the fallout of him announcing that he’s facing Ryan.
As far as Tank goes, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s no longer interested in facing Ryan after being burned recently when he suddenly changed his mind about wanting to fight him.
If Ryan burned his bridges with Tank, he’s going to be waiting for a long, long time for a fight that will never happen.
That’s why it’s better for Ryan to show maturity and not be the equivalent of a kid holding his breath and stomping his feet when they don’t get their way.
No interest from Ryan in fighting Devin Haney
“Man, I’m going backward if I go like that,” said Ryan when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Devin Haney.
“I got to move forward. In life, don’t ever look back, that’s all I say. Once you make an improvement, once you learn from your mistake, and even people that made mistakes on you, forgive them and keep moving forward, that’s it.
“Pacquiao, I respect you, I honor you, but we need to get it on,” said Ryan.
It’s hard to understand why Ryan wouldn’t want to fight Haney (25-0, 15 KOs), seeing that he’s one of the ‘Four Kings’ in the lightweight division. Ryan’s last fight was for the interim WBC 135-lb title and the mandatory spot to face Haney.
If Ryan can’t get the fights that he wants against Pacquiao or Tank for whatever reason, Haney is the most logical choice for a Plan-C option.
It seems like an easy choice for who Ryan should fight if he can’t get Pacquiao or Tank next. He’s got to take on Haney next if that’s all that is available to him.