By Jack Tiernan: Promoter Oscar De La Hoya says his plans are for Ryan Garcia to challenge undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. and then WBA ‘regular’ champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
De La Hoya’s plans for Ryan to face Kambosos later this year will hinge on the Australian successfully defending his four belts against either Vasily Lomachenko or Devin Haney in June.
One of those two fighters will be challenging the unbeaten Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) on June 5th at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
In the meantime, Ryan, 23, will be staying busy with his career, facing Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) on April 9th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
This will be the first fight for Ryan with his new coach Joe Goosen, who is the replacement for Eddy Reynoso. Ryan and his father, Henry Garcia, decided to swap out the busy Reynoso in place of Goosen so they would have more time.
“You’re talking to a guy that had seven trainers his whole career,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV when asked about Ryan Garcia changing trainers from Eddy Reynoso to Joe Goosen.
“So, a change of trainers is always a breath of fresh air,” said De La Hoya. “Ryan Garcia, he chose the right trainer, he chose the right guy. Joe Goosen will bring out the best in him.
“Joe Goosen is a tough trainer. He doesn’t take crap from anybody. He just wants to see his fighters do their very best. I think for Ryan, it’s going to be a motivation. It’s going to be when he starts training with Joe and gets in the rhythm; he’s going to love it,” said De La Hoya.
Goosen is a strict coach, and it should be the ideal guy that Ryan needs to get him back in action after 15 months of inactivity. Ryan must stay busy because he will not progress with him fighting just once a year.
“He’s going to have that passion for fighting, and that’s exactly what it takes to become a world champion,” said De La Hoya about King Ry.
“One thing about Ryan, people expect him to stay in the fast lane and fight the top guys right now because he has such a big social media presence.
“When the time is right, the time will be right, and I want to see Ryan become champion this year. I want to see Ryan challenge [IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion George] Kambosos, for instance, for all the titles in the near future.
“When Ryan beats Kambosos, he can go after Tank, and we can create these mega-events possibly in the first quarter of next year. One thing about Ryan. He’s focused, he’s ready and determined to really become the best in boxing,” said De La Hoya.
It’s too bad Ryan couldn’t get the first shot against Kambosos because that would have been a great fight to see how he dealt with the slick style of the Australian.
Kambosos might not make it through his maiden title defense against Lomachenko or Haney, however, and that would mean that Ryan will need to face one of those guys.
Hopefully, De La Hoya doesn’t choose to delay putting Ryan in with a world champion for another two years, as he’s doing with Jaime Munguia.
We saw that fighter move up to middleweight two years ago, and he still hasn’t fought for a world title due to De La Hoya wanting to hold off.
If De La Hoya keeps Ryan Garcia on a leash for the next two years, he’ll have outgrown the 135-lb division, and will have a tougher time potentially trying to capture a world title at 140 or 147.