Going into last night’s fight with Devin Haney, nobody doubted Ryan Garcia’s stardom, nobody doubted his star power. But was Garcia a great fighter, or anything close? Well, right now, as we fight fans are still feeling intoxicated due to the great, back-and-forth action we were privileged to have seen last night in New York – with Garcia truly shattering the odds by dumping Haney X3 and handing him a perhaps career beating in winning a 12 round decision – there is no denying Garcia’s fighting ability.
And as for the star power of “KingRy,” well, that is now gonna go clean through the roof. For if Garcia was a big star prior to last night, as he for sure was, he is a superstar now. A winning superstar. Garcia, if he can keep it together (and maybe Garcia has always had it together, and was indeed merely trolling us with his shenanigans and his wilder than wild behaviour over the past few weeks), has what it takes to become the new Face of Boxing.
Is this going too far? Maybe. But Look at what Garcia has: a huge fanbase (and that was before the win over Haney), superb skill, an exciting fighting style, speed, good looks, crossover appeal of the highest order, a big level of controversy attached to him (and we all know controversy sells), now proven heart, and youth. Garcia really could have it ALL.
Right now, fans are calling, maybe even begging, for a return fight between Garcia and Haney. But there could be so much more to come from 25 year old Garcia. Going into last night’s fight, Garcia was calling out everyone from Terence Crawford to Tank Davis in a rematch. These fights could come, and plenty more besides.
For now, Garcia is owed a big apology from all of us who strongly felt last night’s fight should not have been permitted to go ahead, this due to Garcia’s apparent loss of mind. Garcia, whether he was playing us or not, showed last night that he can keep it together where it matters, in the ring. Garcia is easy to root for, he is entertaining as heck, and we now know for sure that he can fight, fight, fight. Not just talk.
Is Garcia the biggest star in boxing right now, at least as far as the lower weights go? Maybe. Maybe. Ask yourself this question – who are you now looking most forward to seeing fight their next fight?
It’s true: we simply cannot wait for Garcia’s next fight. Nor can we wait to see how far the Ryan Garcia story/roadshow/trip will take us!
