Trainer Derrick James says his fighter Ryan Garcia doesn’t need a tune-up fight to prepare him to challenge Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for his WBA light welterweight title if that contest happens next.
Derrick believes that Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) will be ready to jump straight into the match-up with Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) after he finishes working with him.
From Derrick’s perspective, one can understand why he might feel that Ryan shouldn’t bother with a tune-up. Taking any kind of tune-up would be risky for Ryan because you don’t know how he’s going to hold up under the power of the 140-pounders.
Still, it would be wise for Ryan to take at least one tune-up to get him ready for a title shot against Rolly because this guy can punch, and he’ll be trying to take his head off as he did during their sparring session.
You can argue that Rolly, 27, did much better against Gervonta Davis than Ryan because he was at least competitive and willing to go out on his shield.
In looking at the Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero sparring session that took place several years ago, Derrick might change his mind about the tune-up for Kingry.
After a slow start, Rolly totally dominated Ryan and was hitting him at will. Ryan stopped fighting back and was just running & holding.
Like in Ryan’s recent fight with Gervonta Davis, his left hook was easily neutralized by Rolly. When he did land it, it had no effect on Rolly, who walked through the shots to continue to batter Ryan.
“It’s all about improvement and all about enlightenment. I believe that what we worked on and what I showed him lets him know that there’s something great to come,” said trainer Derrick James to Fight Hub TV about Ryan Garcia, who he’s now training.
“He’s a great worker, he’s really focused, and he’s really engaged. I talked to him a week and a half ago because he’s on vacation right now. So we’ll get back get back to the gym in a week or so.
“You can always change. He’s 24. and AJ was able to change, so there’s no difference,” James said about Ryan Garcia. “Everybody can change. The younger they are, the better they can become.
“I don’t think he needs an extra tune-up fight for Rolly. With Rolly, who can you get to help you? At the same time, he may not need a tune-up fight for that. I hope he sees that too,” said Derrick.
