Abner Mares in Talks with Ryan Garcia
As long as boxing has existed, there have always been pugilists calling other fighters out. Whether one combatant genuinely didn’t like the other one, were seeking a title shot or perhaps a big payday, callouts have always been a huge part of the sport. However, during this period of state-mandated quarantine, the back on forth on social media is approaching overload levels.
Thankfully, of all the woof tickets being sold online, some of these potential match-ups appear to have some substance about them. Now, in an exclusive interview with EsNews, former three-division world champion Abner Mares (31-3-1, 15 KO’s) has revealed that he is in talks with Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (20-0, 17 KO’s).
“So all I said and wrote was, how can a guy, and again I did not write Ryan’s name, I just said fighter. How does a fighter who hasn’t done shit in his own sport talk and challenges a fighter that is well decorated in his sport?”
“That’s all I said, speaking facts, and that’s how I was feeling at the moment. So the next morning Ryan wakes up and he put, ‘just waking up and see that old ass Abner Mares is calling me out or talking shit’ and you know that’s how it escalated. From there on, it was back and forth and I said that ‘you ain’t nothing in boxing, you haven’t done shit. You owe everything to social media’. That’s a big fact, and it went on and on from there. Now we’re in a moment of negotiating a fight.”
TENSION LEAD TO TRACTION
Like so many fighters at the moment, Mares and Garcia have become engaged in a cantankerous social media bickering session. On the one hand, the multitude of pugilists barking with one another provides some level of content and daily entertainment.
Yet, when the tough talk largely remains only tough talk, it grows stale in a big hurry. This is why it was rather refreshing, and encouraging, to hear that Garcia and Mares are doing more than lips wrestling in public.
“I think yeah, I think it’s possible, it’s a big possibility. More than anything, the big advantage is the fight is already being talked about and basically being worked on. Worked out as far as managers talk about it, so we’re just in a waiting process right now; waiting to see what they come back with.
“You know if it happens, I’m more than ready, more than willing.”
FINDING THE PROPER POUNDS
Seeking to be as transparent as possible, Mares did bring up the only potential hang-up in making the prizefight a reality. While his fighting heart is game to chuck knuckles with KingRy, Mares admits that Garcia is the bigger man in this equation. With that being the case, Mares would require that they meet at a catch-weight to help negate the physical disparity.
“Well, let’s be honest, if the fight were to play out, the realistic thing and the smart thing to do is talk about a catch-weight. Since I am a 126 who moved up to 130 and now fighting at 135. So if they could meet us at 132, 132.5, 133, I’ll be more than happy because the fight should be made that way. And the fight is really interesting in sense of business. My name, his name put together here in LA is a sell-out for sure!”
Outside of the issue of weight, this budding grudge match appears to have a good chance of getting made. So let’s hope that the two teams can find some common ground and set this intriguing prizefight up as quickly as possible.
By: Bakari Simpson
