Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions is planning on taking WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia on a world tour that covers 3 territories for his strategy to turn the 22-year-old into a global star.
Speaking with the AK & Barak Show on DAZN, De La Hoya revealed his grand plans on developing King Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) in a global star by taking him all over the globe.
You can argue that the words ‘World Tour’ are code for mismatches and showcase fights for well-known fighters focusing on low-level opposition.
It could be a complete waste of time for Golden Boy to take Ryan around the world, putting him in with weak opposition in hopes of him becoming a star without fighting anyone talented.
But when you look at the huge noise that YouTuber Jake Paul is making with his mismatches against non-boxers, it’s quite possible that Ryan Garcia could become a star without ever fighting anyone good.
In this day and age with social media being so crucial to the popularity of a fighter, Ryan could get away with spending the next two or three years fighting nobodies and still become a star.
We’re assuming that Ryan will be making defenses of his interim WBC lightweight title against different fighters from the three different countries that he visits in the coming months.
The downside of Ryan going on a world tour for his next three fights is fairly obvious. What this means is, ‘Kingry’ Ryan won’t be fighting Americans Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Ryan probably won’t be fighting Manny Pacquiao or Vasily Lomachenko either.
What we’re probably looking at is Ryan facing flawed fringe contenders to pad his record, and look good in showcase fights. In other words, what we’ve been seeing from Ryan against these non-U.S fighters:
- Luke Campbell – UK
- Romero Duno – Philippines
- Francisco Fonseca – Nicaragua
- Jose Lopez – Puerto Rico
- Braulio Rodriguez – Dominican Republic
- Carlos Morales – Mexico
We saw boxing great Muhammad Ali’s popularity soared during the 1970s when he fought in five different countries around the world. Will the same strategy work for young Ryan Garcia?
There’s a bit of a difference between Muhammad Ali and Ryan, though, which could hold the young Golden Boy fighter back.
For one, Ali was already a world champion many times over by the time he went on a global tour in the 70s. With Ryan, it’s open for debate whether he’ll ever win a world title, let alone win multiple belts the way Ali did.
Yeah, Golden Boy can probably maneuver Ryan to win one of the secondary world titles if they can find a weak champion or a vacant strap for him to win.
In light of what we saw from Ryan Garcia against Luke Campbell last January, he doesn’t look ready to beat any of the current world champions at 135 in Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, or Devin Haney.
It seems that Ryan isn’t the only one that is going to be going on a world tour. Canelo Alvarez could be going on one as well, as soon as he finishes becoming the undisputed 168-lb champion in 2021.
Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn said this week that they plan on having him go on a world tour after he unifies the 168lb division.
Hearn mentioned Japan as one of the destinations for Canelo on his world tour, which means he’ll probably fight WBA 160-lb belt-holder Ryota Murata next year.
That’ll probably go over real well with fans, especially if Canelo doesn’t fight David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, or Gennadiy Golovkin first.
It sure would be nice if Canelo fought those guys before he goes on his world tour next year, but it’s doubtful he will. Canelo will need to fight guys from the different countries he visits on his world tour.