“I am a great fighter,” said Ryan Garcia during a recent media call.
There’s your clickbait.
In a lot of ways, the 23-year-old has gotten to this point in his career from all those things we decry as the end of modern civilization: Instagram, TikTok, clickbait headlines, and more talk about big fights than actual big fights.
That’s not Garcia’s fault. He’s used it all to his advantage and why not? Jake Paul is headlining Madison Square Garden in August with five pro fights, none of which have come against a pro boxer. That changes when he faces Hasim Rahman, Jr., but the point is, why bash the guy if people are showing up to watch him fight – whether it’s to see him win or see him lose?
We are not in the last golden age of boxing of the 1980s, when every weekend saw top level talents fight each other on free network television, and guys like Leonard, Duran, Hearns and Hagler made it a habit of squaring off against each other to prove which of the four kings had the shiniest crown.
You can even fast forward to 1996, when Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya scored his 22nd win against someone named Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez was 96-1-1 at the time. Win 23 was against the 41-0 Miguel Angel Gonzalez, and number 24 saw him defeat Pernell Whittaker.
Combined record of the three? 177-2-2.
Ryan Garcia’s 22nd pro win was in April over Emmanuel Tagoe. At 32-1, the Ghana native was a good fighter and a tough out, but he was no Chavez, Gonzalez or Whittaker.
That’s life. It’s like blaming Wladimir Klitschko for not having the dance partners some other great heavyweight champions had. Bottom line is that he beat whoever was there in his era.
Different times. So can you blame Garcia for taking advantage of what’s out there and making a career of it? Unless you’re a curmudgeon so set in his ways that you can’t move forward, you accept what is going on and move on.
Why? Because there is no sport that gets down to the heart of the matter better than boxing. If someone is a hype job, that doesn’t last forever, because eventually, you will have to fight someone who showed up to win, who has equal or better skills than you do, and who may just have your number. If you’re a hype job, you lose and go away. If you’re a real fighter, you either win, or you take your lumps and come back stronger.
That’s the beauty of an ugly game, and while August 6 may be Jake Paul’s comeuppance, few, if any, believe Garcia will get exposed this Saturday at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
Want proof? We’ve made it to the 13th paragraph before the name of Garcia’s opponent, Javier Fortuna, was even mentioned, just like it was just over 13 minutes before Fortuna was more than namechecked on the aforementioned media call. And when the Dominican veteran was brought up to Garcia, he kept it pithy when asked how he’s preparing for his opponent.
“Pretty much watch his fights and have a base game plan, but honestly, when I’m in there, I’m just gonna pick him apart,” he said. “There’s so many ways I could destroy him, so it’s really whatever unfolds in front of me.”
There was talk of family, the well-documented mental health issues that prompted him to take a brief break from the ring, and his relationship with trainer Joe Goossen as they complete their second camp together, but Fortuna wasn’t a high priority for the man De La Hoya introduced as not only the “future of the lightweight division,” but, “the future of boxing.”
That’s a slight to the 33-year-old Fortuna, who held belts at 126 and 130 pounds and has always been within shouting distance of making another title run, but with only one fight per year since 2020, the most notable one being a clear-cut loss to Joseph Diaz in July 2021, this may be more of a showcase for Garcia than an opportunity for Fortuna.
And that’s fine, because all eyes aren’t on Garcia-Fortuna, but a possible fight between “KingRy” and Gervonta “Tank” Davis. It’s a bout that is one of the most intriguing that can be made in the sport at the moment, and perhaps the lone fight between 135-pounders Garcia, Davis, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez that were expected to battle each other while becoming the “new” four kings.
Lopez lost his titles to George Kambosos, who lost them to Haney, Davis recently knocked out Rolando Romero to retain his belt, and Garcia has been piling up the wins, albeit against fighters not among the lightweight elite.
He wants that to change, as soon as he handles his business with Fortuna, which he expects to do so in explosive (and winning) fashion.
“I think it’s quite obvious where we are headed once we pass Fortuna,” said Garcia. “I am going to campaign for the fight against Gervonta Davis. And I’m all about the truth. And the way these managers and people try to spin off on me because it’s so easy to look at me and say that I’m ducking. We’re not, because of all the things I’ve said. But it’s really been set-up traps and illusions by these promoters and these managers to make it seem like I ducked out of the fight in some way when the facts are that I never ducked a fight and I’ve always tried to make it happen. So now I just try to find ways to really exploit the truth and clear the fog in the way of the truth. And this is the way I feel like I could do it, is to really be as transparent as I can be at every step of the way.”
With a statement like that Garcia is admirably putting the ball in the court of Team Davis. Having the impact that he does on social media, Garcia’s every utterance has the potential to reach millions and cause a stir. So as he makes it clear that he wants Davis next, it’s up to “Tank” to respond, with the result either being a great fight getting made, or Davis winding up looking like the bad guy, even if negotiations legitimately break down over legitimate issues.
But that’s down the road. For now, Garcia is spewing out some fighting words, even though he could go in a different direction and still pad his bank account.
“I’m not desperate to fight him,” said Garcia of Davis. “I’m hungry to show the world that I’m the best fighter in the division. I feel like he’s the best fighter other than myself in the division, and with speed, power and accuracy and IQ, I think he’s up there. But I’m just that much better and I’m gonna separate myself from him and I’m gonna make it look very easy when I’m in the ring with him and I’m just eager to show people that I’m more than meets the eye, that I’m really a much better fighter than you perceive it as and when you’re in the ring with me, you’ll feel it right away. So I want to show Gervonta Davis that, personally, too. He’s very confident that he can beat me, so I want to see him show me. I’m done with the talking, I’m ready to handle it in the ring. And if he doesn’t do it, well, we can see that he didn’t really want it. I’m really in a good place where I want to take that step, and I want to destroy him and take my spot as the face of boxing. I think whoever wins that fight will become the face of boxing after that.”
Garcia may already be closing in on that unofficial title, Davis or not. You get the impression that he knows it, too. But after some starts and stops and plenty of questions, he’s apparently ready to put his foot on the gas and find out some answers for himself in boxing’s truth machine. That’s a good sign for him, and for the sport. So no, Ryan Garcia is not a great fighter, but maybe he’ll become one, and that’s why we’re still watching.
By Thomas Gerbasi