Ryan Garcia is poised to make a statement on Saturday night when he faces Luke Campbell for the interim WBC lightweight title at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The fight will be shown live on DAZN at 6:00 p.m.
Ryan, 22, will become WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney’s mandatory challenger if he beats Campbell. It’s still unknown if Ryan will choose to take the fight with Haney if he comes out victorious.
Ryan says he’s more interested in his legacy than he is in competing against Haney.
The unbeaten Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) has the popularity of a world champion despite being just a contender. With Ryan’s followers, it’s going to be a bitter pill for him to swallow if he loses to Campbell.
However, Ryan’s fans will likely stick with him because his popularity with them isn’t because of being a boxer. It’s how he looks.
Ryan can become a superstar on Saturday
“A lot of people are saying that and yet, Ryan Garcia is the favorite in this fight, and it’s mind-boggling to me how spread out the favoritism is,” said De La Hoya to Fighthub about people saying Ryan Garcia is making a mistake facing Campbell this early in his career.
“It’s a dangerous fight. On paper, you see both guys. This is a very dangerous fight for Ryan Garcia. It’s not going to be a walk in the park, but I still feel Ryan is going to really make a statement in this fight.
“The fact that he [Ryan] has a lot of doubters, and he has a lot of people whispering in his ears.
“He hears those whispers every single day about how he can’t do it, he can’t be a world champion, he can’t beat this guy, and can’t beat that guy.
“That’s fuel to the flame, and I think this is the perfect fight for Ryan Garcia. This is the perfect fight where he can come out and shine and become a superstar,” said De La Hoya.
Oscar is getting a little carried away with his thoughts on Ryan becoming a superstar if he beats Campbell. It’s going to take more than beating Campbell, 33, for Garcia to become a superstar.
Ryan cant become a star on the cheap by beating Luke rather than the likes of Teofimo, Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, and Jorge Linares.
It’s going to be a surprise if Ryan can get past Campbell on Saturday because this guy is solid, and he’s seen it all. This is someone that can not only potentially beat Ryan but knock him out in the process.
It seems foolhardy on De La Hoya’s part in letting Ryan face Campbell. It would be interesting to know what Canelo Alvarez and trainer Eddy Reynoso feel about Ryan taking such a big step up.
De La Hoya: Ryan Garcia can KO Campbell
“I can see Ryan Garcia getting frustrated a bit, you know because he doesn’t knock him out in the first few rounds,” continued De La Hoya on the Campbell fight.
“But that’s where you have to expose your greatness. If you’re destined to be great, that’s where you have to show it.
“You have to adjust, and you have to make these little subtle adjustments to figure out your opponent.
“Can Ryan Garcia knock out Luke Campbell? Absolutely if he has greatness in him, and we’ll see on January 2nd.
“It’s a big risk, but as they say, ‘No risk, no reward.’ If you want to be great, you have to take risks,” Oscar said about Ryan’s risky fight against Luke Campbell.
Ryan Garcia’s left hook can knockout anybody in the 135 or 140-lb division. With that said, he may have problems landing it on Campbell because he knows how to avoid that shot.
Ryan will need Campbell to come in close range for him to land his left hook, and he’s not going to do that.
Predictably, Campbell will be jabbing and keeping the action on the outside to keep Ryan from nailing him with his trademark left hook.
If Ryan can’t land his left hook, he’s got no chance of knocking out Campbell. King Ryan’s right hand isn’t powerful enough for him to trouble Campbell.
Oscar to discuss Ryan vs. Tank fight
“I’ll have to sit down with Ryan and have a heart-to-heart talk with him because at this point in his career he wants to fight everybody, he really does,” said De La Hoya when asked if Ryan will fight Tank Davis next if he beats Campbell.
“It’s very impressive that a young kid like him in his position and can call out all these world champions and wanting to fight the very best at such an early age.
“It’s funny because the in position he’s in now, all the world champions are calling him out because they need Ryan.
“He has the popularity he has the attention, and it’s pretty ironic that all these world champions are [calling Ryan out].
De La Hoya should try and talk Ryan out of fighting Tank Davis because there are too many chances of the fight going wrong for him.
Garcia vs. Tank Davis interests De La Hoya
“If you were to put Teofimo, Devin Haney, Tank Davis, and any champion out there from 135 to 147, if you were to put them out on the street, no one would probably recognize them,” said De La Hoya.
“But if Ryan Garcia were walking down the street, a lot of people would recognize him. I think that’s one special advantage that Ryan Garcia has, including his talent inside the ring.
“It’s the perfect package. We’ll have to sit down with Ryan and see what he wants. Ryan has called out Tank. I love that fight.
“As his promoter, I love the Tank fight. He did a phenomenal job against Leo [Santa Cruz]. Leo was actually doing really good. He was actually doing really, really good.
“Look, Tank caught him with a beautiful uppercut and took him out. That would be an amazing fight. Ryan vs. Tank, I like it. I can’t wait to stage those kinds of fights.
“Those fights deserve fans inside arenas. So that’s something we have to consider as well.
“We think that the fact that Teofimo, Tank are talking a really good game. It makes it a lot easier for promoters to make these fights,” said De La Hoya.
It would be good for Ryan to get another fight in before he takes on Gervonta Davis in 2021.
Although Campbell is an excellent fighter, he’s not going to prepare Ryan enough for him to beat a fighter like Tank Davis.
Ryan needs a proper step up opponent to make him ready for a devasting puncher like Tank Davis. One of these fighters would work to get Ryan ready for Tank if he beats Campbell on Saturday:
- Felix Verdejo
- Jorge Linares
- Rolando Romero
- James Tennyson
- Joseph DiazJr
- Denys Berinchyk
- Miguel Berchelt
- Oscar Valdez