Trainer Peter Fury liked what he saw of Ryan Garcia last Saturday night with his powerful left hook body shot stoppage of Luke Campbell in the seventh round at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The unbeaten Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) Garcia, who has close to 8 million followers on social media, caught an unsuspecting Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) with a left to the body in the seventh round to score a stoppage.
The victory netted the 22-year-old Garcia the vacant interim WBC lightweight title.
Unfortunately, that belt is meaningless, as Garcia let the boxing fans know after the fight that he has no interest in taking on WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney right now.
His focus is on challenging WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next. Peter Fury thinks it’s not a good idea for King Ryan to take on Tank Davis yet, as he needs more experience before he faces the 26-year-old southpaw.
Ryan only wants to fight the best, and Davis is one of the three best in the 135-lb division. The other two are Teofimo Lopez and Vasily Lomachenko.
RYAN GARCIA.
THAT’S IT. THAT’S THE TWEET. pic.twitter.com/j3jiClhCI8
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 3, 2021
The WBC devalued the title that Haney, 22, holds when they made Lomachenko the Franchise champion. Teofimo recently captured the Franchise belt with his win over Lomachenko last October.
So now fans view Teofimo as the real WBC champion and Haney as just a paper champion. Ryan has no desire to capture the valueless WBC title that Haney holds.
Ryan Garcia is the future of boxing
“I really enjoyed it, it was a good fight,” said Peter Fury to IFL TV on the Garcia vs. Campbell fight. “What I make of it is, you only got to look at Luke Campbell.
“This is someone that has been in with Lomachenko, went the full 12 rounds, Linares, and he’s improved, Campbell. Let’s not forget that he’s an Olympian gold medalist, a southpaw, a big puncher, and didn’t do anything wrong in there.
“He fought the perfect tactics and everything else. When you were looking at both fighters, you were only looking at Garcia. He was that much ahead of him, he looked so much comfortable, and he looked on a different level completely.
“So when you’re looking at that, and you’re looking at that level compared to somebody highly capable of being a world champion in Campbell in how he got off as well.
“Everything about him, he’s a special talent,” said Peter Fury about Ryan Garcia. “You can probably say that he’s going to be the future of boxing in that division,” said Peter of Ryan.
For Ryan to become the future of the 135-lb division, he’s going to need to take the scalps of these excellent fighters:
- Teofimo Lopez
- Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis
- Devin Haney
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Shakur Stevenson
- Miguel Berchelt
Ryan will need to beat six top fighters at 135 to cement himself in as the #1 fighter in the division and the future of boxing.
Tank’s popularity took a hit with his recent less than spectacular performance against former three-division world champion Leo Santa Cruz.
The punching power and speed of Tank Davis will give Ryan a lot of trouble potentially. If Ryan lets Tank get inside on him, he’s going to be hitting the deck repeatedly.
Ryan’s trainer Eddy Reynoso needs to work on his defense and get him to widen his stance and move his head. He’s too upright and easy to hit. A guy like Tank would have it easy against Ryan with the way he fights.
It’s a race against time for Ryan to face the unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) because he’s going to be leaving the division soon.
At best, Teofimo has two fights left at 135 before he’s forced to leave the division to move up to 140.
Miguel Berchelt and Shakur Stevenson are expected to move up to 135 soon, possibly in 2021, and those guys will make it interesting for Ryan.
Ryan Garcia should stay clear of Tank
“I agree, you got to look at all of them [the top lightweights],” Peter said about the 135-pound division being loaded. “You couldn’t say that he could beat any of the other ones because that’s the kind of talent that is in there.
“But what I will say is, 22 years of age, to take on somebody like Luke Campbell is on paper, I’ve said it before, you got to say that Luke Campbell should have won that fight on paper.
“With who he’s been in with and experience levels, look what happened. When you’re really special, and you’re on a different level like a Canelo and a Mayweather level, this is what you come across every now and then.
“He’s definitely one of them. He proved that yesterday,” Peter said about Ryan Garcia.
“I’m saying for me, I’m not saying he can’t beat Tank or anyone in that division, but I’d stay clear of him for the moment because that Tank is a serious fellow
“He’s not going to be put away,” said Peter recommending that King Ryan not fight Tank right now.
“He’s not going to be stopped for sure. That’s a dangerous fight for a 22-year-old, a really dangerous fight because he’s another level again” said Peter.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya said he’s going to sit Ryan down and have a talk with him about his next fight.
If De La Hoya gives Ryan an honest assessment of his talent and what he’s capable of doing, he’ll likely let him know that he shouldn’t fight Tank right now. He needs more time to develop before taking that fight.
No one will blame Ryan if he doesn’t face Tank right now, as there’s no hurry. Mayweather Promotions have taken their time in putting Tank in with Vasily Lomachenko. For years, Lomachenko has wanted to fight Tank, yet Mayweather Promotions hasn’t put that fight together.
It’s not that they’re marinating it. You can argue that they didn’t like Tank’s chances against Loma. Now it’s too late. Teofimo has beaten Lomachenko, and Tank won’t receive credit if he faces Loma now and beats him.
Campbell is still capable of winning a title
“I still think he can win a world title,” said Peter Fury about Luke Campbell. “We all need to understand that he’s come up against a phenomenal fighter, he’s coming up against a real special talent that only comes around every once in a while.
Another one like him was Oscar De La Hoya, and he looks after him. That’s how long it’s been.
“He’s [Campbell] capable of winning a world title,” Peter said of Luke. “You’ve just got to keep to it and that’s it. The shot he took probably would have put anybody away,” said Peter.
Campbell can win a belt at 135, but he’s going to have to pick the right champion, and he’ll have to fight for the title soon.
Luke is 33 now, and he can’t be waiting until he’s 35 or 36 before getting another title shot. Campbell’s best shot at winning a world title at lightweight would be against Haney.
If Luke can get a title shot against Haney in 2021, he’d have a chance of beating him. Haney said last Saturday that he’d likely face his secondary mandatory Javier Fortuna if Ryan Garcia doesn’t face him.