Ryan Garcia thinks so little of his opponent Luke Campbell for this Saturday that he’s talking mainly about the guy he wants to fight next in Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. To say that Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) is looking past the 2012 Olympic medalist Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) is putting it mildly.
Ryan, 22, is treating Campbell the same way a young Cassius Clay treated Sonny Liston before their fight in February 1964. King Ryan is firmly convinced that the 33-year-old Campbell has nothing to worry him.
Garcia vs. Campbell will be headlining this Saturday, January 2nd, on DAZN from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The start of the broadcast is at 3:00 p.m ET. That’s an easy start time, but it’s being done to accommodate the British boxing fans.
Ryan looking to make a statement
“I think there is a lot of pressure, but as they say, ‘Pressure makes diamonds,’ if you’re able to handle it. So it’s part of the potential I have,” said Ryan Garcia to Gareth A Davies.
“If I’m able to get through this and make something out of my career the way I think I can, I believe I can become a diamond.
I got something to do this Saturday but Sunday I’ll be free 😁 pic.twitter.com/UoyWsCPn49
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) December 30, 2020
“A lot of people can’t just watch boxing. They need a storyline, a good guy vs. a bad guy. A young up and coming charismatic kid like they see in me.
“They either love me, or they hate me. That’s what people love. They don’t just want to watch two great fighters.
“Of course, the boxing and do, but I’m talking about the casual fan out there that tune in. They want to see a build-up, they want to know who the person is, and they want the storyline. I think that
“The position I’m in, they see me as a young rock star, and I’m knocking people out, and some people want to root for me. Others say, ‘I don’t like this kid, he seems cocky, he seems arrogant.’
“In reality, I’m not, but when it comes to the ring, I do hold that kind of in a way that ego and arrogance. But it’s not intentional. It’s like, ‘Do you want to fight? Let’s go.’ It has to be, ‘I’m going to whoop your a**, you’re not going to touch me.’
“In my mind, I’m thinking, ‘You’re trying to knock me out, and I’m trying to knock you out, so we can’t really be friends here,” said Ryan.
“This is either going to be my era, or I’m going to be taking a step back and reevaluate,” said Ryan Garcia about Saturday’s clash with Campbell.
Ryan says he’s not cocky, but the reality is quite different. He’s as cocky as they come, and he doesn’t have the experience as a pro for him to be that way.
Ryan is either as he portrays himself, or he’s terribly out of touch with reality. Many boxing fans believe it to be more of the latter, thinking that Ryan is an “airhead” who completely lost and his promoters at Golden Boy are his enablers.
Haney insists Garcia-Campbell winner must face him
“The winner has to fight me regardless, and if he doesn’t fight me, all the great he got would go out the window because he doesn’t want to fight the champion now,” said Devin Haney to Fighthype on the Campbell vs. Ryan Garcia fight.
WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney will get his wish if Campbell comes out victorious on Saturday. He’ll gladly challenge Haney for his WBC title.
Ryan has other ideas, saying he’s going to take on WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis if he wins on Saturday.
Ryan saving Haney for last
“I’ve never worked harder for the moment. If he’s ready, I’m ready,” said Ryan about Campbell. “He’s going for the knockout; you know I’m going for the knockout.
“There’s not one thing he’s going to do in the ring that is going to make me doubt myself, so it’s going to be a hell of a fight. He says he’s in his prime.
“I know I’m coming into my prime. So this should be a great fight. This should be one for the fans. I’m going out swinging. I’m going to leave my whole heart on the line.
“This is it. It’s going to be like an official championship fight. It’s not going to be an official world title, but for me, it’s everything.
“If I’m able to pull off my dream, which I am, one of my goals is to beat four fighters in their prime, ready fighters like fighters that people don’t want to step in the ring with,” said Ryan Garcia.
“One of them is Gervonta Davis; you got Teofimo Lopez, you got Devin Haney, all in their prime. Then you got Luke Campbell, who says he’s in his prime now.
“So if I can beat all four of these dudes, and I plan to do it back, to back to back, I can set myself up for potentially being one of the greatest,” said Ryan Garcia.
Ryan sounds like he’s dreaming when he talks of wanting to fight Davis, Teofimo, and Haney in consecutive fights.
He would be running the gauntlet if he fought those three fighters in a row, and it’s hard to imagine Garcia still being in one piece after the first fight against Tank.
Ryan would have t knock those guys out quickly to progress to the next level because it’s likely he’ll lose to all three.
All we have to go by in judging Ryan’s talent is his fight against Carlos Morales in 2018, and he looked terrible in that fight. Ryan won a 10 round decision, but it was close at the end.
King Ryan wants to retire by 26
“That’s my dream. My dream is to be one of the greatest fighters of all time,” said King Ryan. “But to do that, it’s going to take loads of amount of pressure and gamble, and I’m ready for it; that’ my dream.
January 2nd watch as the reign begins 👑 and you can watch from anywhere on dazn 🌎 pic.twitter.com/ls7pvXNrex
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) December 2, 2020
“I said that in one of my interviews. I want to be done with this by the time I’m 26. I don’t care to be in it long because I want to do something that nobody has ever done.
“I’ve seen it so many times because I’m a big historian of the game. There are not too many fighters that take those fights.
“You’ve got the legends like Ray Leonard, the legends like Muhammad Ali because Muhammad Ali fought Sonny Liston when nobody wanted to fight Sonny Liston.
“Now they’re scared about me fighting Gervonta Davis. ‘Why would you do that to yourself? You’re so young.’ But this is just what’s in my heart. I feel it in my heart that I can win all those fights. I have the speed; I have the power; I have everything to me.
“It’s just doing it and preparing myself as well as I can. There’s a lot of potential here to do something amazing. All I have to do is go in and do it.
“People are scared, but I know I’m not. I’m very comfortable. When I get that chance, I’ll seize that moment. I’m not afraid. So I’m going to be fighting my best because I don’t have fear.
“I’m going to be fighting my best, throw my punches as hard as I can, dodge, dip, and do what I got to do, and let the better man win that night.
“But I’m going for greatness; I don’t care no matter what Golden Boy says. I don’t care what anybody says. I’m going for greatness.
“I’m fighting Gervonta Davis. If I come out victorious against Luke Campbell, I’ll go for Gervonta Davis. Then after that, Teofimo and after that, Devin Haney. That’s what I want,” said Ryan Garcia.
If Ryan loses to Campbell on Saturday, he may need to reassess his four-year retirement plan, and either move it up or move it back.
It’s quite possible that the 22-year-old King Ryan isn’t as good as he thinks he is. If that’s the case, he’ll need to make a tough decision.
For the most part, the guys that Ryan wants to beat are fighters that you need the experience to defeat, and he doesn’t have that.
Tank Davis, Teofimo Lopez, and Devin Haney are high-quality guys that Ryan shouldn’t be fighting at this early stage of his career. But with him being in such a hurry, he’s rushing into the fights in a recklessly irresponsible way.
The maturity isn’t there for Ryan, and Golden Boy will be failing him if they allow him to fight any of those elite-level lightweights in 2021 or 2022.