Is Ryan Garcia the next boxing superstar? Within recent weeks, this is a question that a few boxing insiders have. For a fighter that’s not even a world champion and just cracked the top lightweight rankings, he sure is getting a lot of hype.
Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (20-0, 17 KO’s) of Los Angeles, California, was an outstanding amateur and has been boxing professionally for four years now. The twenty-two-year-old was also voted ESPN’s Prospect of the Year for 2017. So far he has done well in his fights. He has shown power and speed. Also, Garcia is tall at 5’10” for the lightweight division. The last time we saw Garcia, he knocked out Francisco Fonseca in the 1st round earlier this year. Garcia has looked good and is very promising, but he is overhyped as of now. He has not proved anything yet and some boxing fans dislike him because he is arrogant. Other top lightweights like Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez have done way more than Garcia so far.
So where does Garcia get his push from? It’s simple: social media. Garcia has a lot of followers and he’s taking full advantage of it. Garcia has posted boxing videos of him hitting the bag showing off his speed and it’s got many people believing he is the real deal. However, true boxing fans know that you need to prove your worth first before getting any kind of recognition. This is not a put down on Garcia but we just don’t know how good he is yet.
So where does Ryan Garcia stand?
It’s too early to tell where Ryan Garcia stands and how he will do in the future. However, that will change real soon and questions about how good he is, will soon be answered.
It was announced that Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell will face each other for the New Year on January 2nd after a one month postponement. The postponement was due to Luke Campbell testing positive for Covid-19. The fight will be for the vacant WBC interim lightweight title. I’m not one for interim belts or any belts really, but in this case, this is a significant fight no matter how you look at it. Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KO’s) of the United Kingdom, is a former two-time world title challenger. His only three defeats were by decision. Two of those defeats were against Jorge Linares and Vasyl Lomachenko. Even though Campbell lost those fights, he put a good effort. Campbell has proven to be a solid opponent and a true test for Garcia. If Garcia defeats Campbell convincingly, then he will earn the respect of boxing fans and his doubters. Even if Garcia loses, he will not be totally written off but it will depend on how he loses.
We can’t wait for this fight and many questions will be answered about Ryan Garcia.