Luke Campbell isn’t worried about Ryan Garcia’s popularity
Former Olympic gold medalist Luke “Cool Hand” Campbell (20-3, 16ko) is being allowed to get a third bite at the championship; all he has to do is beat Golden Boy Promotion’s top prospect Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17ko).
THE RUNDOWN
The two-time title contender was all set to face former WBA junior lightweight champion Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (35-2-1, 24ko) for the vacant WBC lightweight championship, when Devin “The Dream” Haney (24-0, 15ko) was placed “In-recess” status due to a shoulder injury.
Then, of course, COVID-19 came along and dropped a huge monkey wrench in everyone’s plans. The Dream would recover and with boxing still on hold, the WBC reinstated him as the champion.
However, the organization did order both Campbell and Fortuna to face each other for the mandatory position. However, this fight also never materialized due to the current pandemic. Now it seems that the former Dominican champion will face another former world champion in Jorge “El Nino de Oro” Linares (47-5, 29ko).
Don’t worry, the former Olympic medalist isn’t without a dance partner himself. It now seems he will face “KingRy” for the WBC mandatory position.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
In an interview with Sky Sports, the British fighter opened up about his upcoming opponent and didn’t seem to be overly impressed.
“He has a big name, he draws a lot of attention. He looks like he carries power and he has speed.”
“We’ll soon find out, won’t we?”
Campbell is well aware of popularity the Golden Boy Prospect has on social media, but isn’t worried by that either.
“He has a hell of a following, but they won’t help him in the ring.”
Campbell has a very good reason to look past the hoopla surrounding the undefeated young prospect. The British fighter has shared the ring with both Linares and unified champion Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (14-1, 10ko).
Furthermore, Luke Campbell held his own in both fights and that alone is a wealth of experience and knowledge that breeds confidence.
By: Garrisson Bland
