De La Hoya Looking to Nail Down an Opponent for Ryan Garcia
At this point, it’s been five months since lightweight contender “King” Ryan Garcia’s (23-1, 19 KO’s) last competition. In that last tour of duty, Garcia suffered his first professional defeat by way of sixth round stoppage to Regular WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. Naturally, his Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) promotion team is hard at work attempting to find him suitable opposition.
Some may be surprised that Garcia is still with his long-time promoter. King Ryan and GBP top dog, Oscar De La Hoya, fairly frequently get into very public, verbal squabbles. In fact, directly after his loss to Davis, Garcia was very vocal about feeling abandoned by his team during his post-fight responsibilities. Despite their rather strained relationship, De La Hoya insists that he is still diligently at work trying to isolate Garcia’s next fight date and opponent. Unfortunately, in a recent round table, De La Hoya couldn’t provide any worthwhile updates.
“We’re currently now working on a venue . . . so it depends on the opponent, it depends on what Ryan wants. We’ll be talking to him shortly and I believe that we’re gunning for November 18, live on DAZN.”
On the one hand, Garcia is not ranked in the top fifteen of any of the four major sanctioning bodies standings. On the other hand, this should not be a big deal for King Ryan as he derives his visibility and extreme negotiating power from his expansive social media following. With this ability to plant keisters in seat cushions, for the time being, Garcia will likely retain his access to top fighters in the division.
SO, WHO’S IT GOING TO BE?!
Presently, his fellow 135-pound fighters, Isaac Cruz and Frank Martin, are also lacking upcoming fights. Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KO’s), ranked #1(WBA), #3 (WBO), #4 (IBF) and #4 (WBC), is coming off a July 29 split decision victory over Giovanni Cabrera. To be honest though, Cruz is still milking his 2021 high-profile loss to the previously mentioned Gervonta Davis. Securing a major duel with Garcia would be a good look for the Mexican. Even better, Garcia has already shown interest.
Likewise, albeit for different reasons, Frank “The Ghost” Martin (18-0, KO’s), ranked #2 (WBC), #3 (WBA) and #6 (WBO), would also greatly benefit from dancing with King Ryan. This is because Martin is currently under heavy fire for seemingly ducking a fight with two-division champion Shakur Stevenson. Despite his name being drug through the mud, Martin and his team have remained oddly quiet. A showdown with the once beaten Garcia would certainly inject his career with new vigor.
Either one of these matches would be a boon for any and all of the three pugilists mentioned. For the time being however, we will just have to hold tight and see what Team Garcia can come up with for their charge who clearly is ready to hop back in the ring.
Source ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzK8JvX1Upo&t=210s
