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By Jim Calfa: Ryan Garcia says he’s “coming for everything” in 2023, starting with his planned April catchweight fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on Showtime PPV.

There won’t be any world titles on the line for the Tank vs. Ryan fight, as it’s a match that will take place at a 136-lb catchweight. Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) now fights at light welterweight, having moved up in weight recently due to him outgrowing the 135-lb division.

The 24-year-old Ryan hasn’t won a world title yet in the 140-lb division, and he’s never fought anyone from that weight class. Ideally, it would be better if Ryan were to fight WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis before his fight with Tank Davis, not because of the title that the Lousiana native holds.

It’s more of the perception of Prograis being the #1 fighter in the light welterweight division that matters more than his WBC title. If the Golden Boy-promoted Ryan Garcia were to defeat Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs), it would be a massive setup for his fight with Gervonta Davis in April.

Of course, with the risk involved in Ryan taking on Prograis, he wouldn’t dare take that fight now and risk his bag for the Tank Davis fight, but it would be admirable if he did. It would show fans that Ryan has the courage and doesn’t care only about money, which some feel is his main rationale for being in such a mad hurry to fight Tank.

Judging by Ryan’s comment about titles not mattering in this day & age, it’s unclear whether he’ll ever own a belt at light welterweight. At present, only a few fighters are considered popular at 140, so it probably won’t be a big deal if Kingry doesn’t ever hold a belt in the 140-lb division.

Ryan’s immediate goal is to fight the famous pay-per-view star Gervonta Davis in April on Showtime PPV in Las Vegas. That fight will make both guys a Fort Knox worth of money.

I’m coming for everything 👑

— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) December 30, 2022

In all reality, most boxers and people who have a real eye for boxing can see what’s a tune up and what’s not. Truth can only be seen at times by people that only care about that. Doesn’t matter about belts or accolades. That’s the truth. Belts are watered down means nothing.

— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) December 30, 2022

By eye test wouldn’t you consider tank the most at talented and dangerous fight?? It’s common sense my victory over tank would be better if I won a fight with Regis P for all the “belts” it’s pretty clear if you look for it

— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) December 30, 2022

Well I’ll explain. Not everything is black and white. At times depending on the fight and how great the fighters, the belts do mean something but for the most part the belts don’t matter. It’s who you beat that matters.

— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) December 30, 2022

Indeed, belts don’t matter if the person holding them won them against weak opposition due to the slick maneuvering of their promoters or if the belt was given to them through the email route.

Devin Haney is an example of a champion whose popularity hasn’t increased substantially despite winning all four belts. Besides having a boring fighting style that holds him back, Haney gathered his four titles by a combination of email and beating the paper champion George Kambosos Jr.

If Haney had beaten Tank Davis or Vasyl Lomachenko when he held the lightweight titles, he’d be much more popular today. Of course, Haney would still be held back by his boring fighting style, but at least he’d be viewed as a legitimate belt holder rather than a guy that took advantage of there being a weak belt holder for him to snatch his three titles from.