By Charles Brun: Luke Campbell has finally come out of the woodwork two months after his seventh-round knockout loss to Ryan Garcia in January, and he’s now looking bulked up like a middleweight and putting the 168-lb division on notice.
I know it was a bad loss for the 33-year-old Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) to take in losing to the 22-year-old youngster King Ryan but this complete change of his physique since then, what is Luke thinking?
Campbell said this on Twitter:
“Putting the Super Middleweight division on notice, who wants this smoke?”
If Campbell wasn’t looking so huge, Charles Brun wouldn’t take him seriously, but the guy literally looks like at least a 160-pounder. I mean, you got to take Campbell 100% serious with the way he’s looking now.
the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell’s career is on the rocks at this point, and he’s got to try something because it’s painfully that it’s over. Losing to Vasily Lomachenko and Jorge Linares is one thing, but the loss to the young upstart King Ryan takes the cake.
For Campbell, it’s either retirement or tries something crazy like bulking up and calling out the top super middleweights. If Luke is at the end of his rope so to speak, calling the top 168-pounders is worth a try.
Just think of the huge wad of cash Campbell could get if Canelo Alvarez chose to give him a mercy fight as he did with Avni Yildirim recently. Campbell would make millions from the Canelo fight, and he could hang up the glove afterward.
Unfortunately, Campbell’s career situation is bleak to the extreme right now. He clearly lacks the killer instinct to be an elite fighter, and his punch resistance to the head and body isn’t what it needs to be for him to excel in the 135-lb division.
Will things get better for the 5’9″ Campbell if he moves up in weight? If you’re Campbell, you got to try something, and that means leaving the 135-lb division and moving up to 140.
That would be the first move that Campbell should be considering, and by the looks of it, that’s what his intentions are likely. Luke has no more opportunities at 135, as he’s lost too many times and it’s useless for him to stay there.
Moving up to 140, Campbell would be an excellent option for Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner’s next tune-up fight. That would be an excellent payday match-up for Campbell if his wily promoter Eddie Hearn can set the match up.
Broner needs a winnable fight to show the boxing world he’s back, and who better to face than Campbell? As horribly bad as Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) looked in his recent comeback bout against Jovanie Santiago on February 20th, Campbell might be made a favorite with the oddsmakers.
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