By Jack Tiernan: Ryan Garcia says DAZN wants him to be the one that faces undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. next, not Devin Haney.
According to Dan Rafael, WBC 135-lb champion Haney is out of the picture for the Kambosos Jr (20-0, 13 KOs) fight. It’s now down to Ryan (21-0, 13 KOs) or Vasily Lomachenko to get the fight with the popular Australian next.
Ryan, 23, believes he’s going to be the one that winds up facing Kambosos, as long as he wins his next fight against Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
That fight will Ryan’s first since his victory over Luke Campbell in January 2021, and he’ll be ready,
With new trainer Joe Goosen replacing Eddy Reynoso, Ryan will be looking to dethrone IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Kambosos Jr.
“DAZN was super sad that I didn’t fight Jojo Diaz because that would have sold out everywhere,” said Ryan Garcia to CompuBox TV. “I guarantee you their subscription base for my fight against [Luke] Campbell went through the roof.
“Just our highlights had over 18 million views,” Ryan continued about the massive amount of views his fight with Campbell had on DAZN in 2021. Do you understand how much that is?
“Yes, there’s a reason why they want me to fight Kambosos because the subscriptions that come in when I fight, the viewership, maybe triple [that of Haney],” said Ryan.
It’s not going to make Haney and his promoter Eddie Hearn happy to see Ryan getting the fight that they badly wanted against Kambosos, but that’s how it goes.
Ryan has a huge following on social media, and his fighting style is very entertaining. In contrast, Haney’s style of fighting is similar to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the end of his career when he boxed and played it safe to win without taking any chances.
If Ryan defeats Kambosos, he’s going to be a huge star, and him the biggest name in the 135-lb division, and perhaps even more popular than the welterweights Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford.
“I got way less than Devin Haney [from DAZN], but I was bringing in way more subscriptions. I took the backend on everything. Why? Because I was making money outside of the ring obviously.
“Nothing against Haney, but he’s not willing to put it all on the line to get the knockouts to destroy somebody like I am. He’s there to win the fight. I’m going to win the fight, but I’m putting it all on the line to sleep you and land that shot to knock you out.
“I fell asleep when Devin Haney was fighting Jojo Diaz. You hit him and then you move away. You act like he has power like he was a monster. Get him out of there already.
“I don’t think they understand. I’m bloodthirsty when I’m in the ring. I want to destroy you with every shot I can hit you with,” said Ryan Garcia.
As for why Ryan Garcia split with trainer Eddy Reynoso to go with Joe Goosen, it could be a variety of reasons. We do know that Canelo, who is trained by Reynoso, took a shot at Ryan a few months ago in an interview.
Canelo said that Ryan was wasting his talent by not putting in the work.
If Ryan took exception to being openly criticized by Canelo, it could have created bad blood, setting up a situation in which the young star couldn’t stay at the same gym. Sometimes it’s better for a fighter to move on in cases like that.
With Ryan’s punching power and hand speed, he’s going to do well under Goosen’s tutelage. If Ryan is able to get the fight with Kambosos this year, he’s got an excellent chance of defeating him to become the new four-belt champion.
Assuming Haney chooses to stay at 135, we could see those two square off for the undisputed championship in late 2022.
