By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoya wants Ryan Garcia to challenge Teofimo Lopez for his WBO light welterweight title during Super Bowl weekend on February 10th.
De La Hoya believes that a fight between #14 WBO Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) and champion Teofimo (19-1,13 KOs) would be a “fun” fight for that weekend.
Now, whether Top Rank, the promoters for Teofimo, will be agreeable to matching him against the Golden Boy-promoted Ryan Garcia during Super Bowl weekend is another thing.
It’s a very winnable one for Teofimo, and he can make a lot of money in this match-up, so Top Rank will likely be on board with this idea. It doesn’t get any better than this for Teofimo.
If this one of the killers at 140, like #1 WBO Arnold Boarboza Jr. or Gary Antuanne Russell, Teofimo could drag his feet, kicking & screaming and protesting the idea of being forced to walk the plank against these talented contenders.
Before potentially facing Teofimo in February, Ryan will need to win his tune-up fight on November 18 against a still-to-be-determined opponent. De La Hoya hasn’t given any hints about who the 25-year-old Ryan will face on this date, but it’s not expected to be a live body.
Oscar gave a hint yesterday about the type of opponent Rryan will be facing by reminding the media that he’s coming off a loss to Gervonta Davis, which is code for, ‘Don’t expect Ryan to fight anyone good on November 18th.’
“There’s a huge weekend, Super Bowl weekend, and I think the only fighter that can headline the event is Ryan Garcia. Ryan and Teo would be a lot of fun,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV about his plans for Ryan Garcia to be involved in a big contest on February 10.
Many expect Ryan Garcia to retire after he gets blown out of the water by Teofimo, as he’ll get another enormous payday, and then he can focus on modeling or low-level acting jobs.
If Ryan were to stick it out in boxing, it would be difficult for him to rebuild to get another massive payday fight, as he would be expected to fight a talented contender instead of having a title shot handed to him on a silver platter without working for it.
The criticism that Ryan is getting from fans is that he’s coming off a knockout loss to Gervonta Davis and could get a title shot against Teofimo after just one fight against a likely stiff dug up from the graveyard on November 18th.
There is a certain sense of unfairness about it because the hardworking, undefeated contenders like Barboza Jr. and Gary Antuanne Russell aren’t given the same opportunities.
“You have fighters like Haney and Rolly, and you also have a fighter in Broner,” said Oscar, listing additional options for Ryan Garcia to fight in February.