LOS ANGELES — 19-year-old Ryan Garcia feels that a world title bout should happen in his next fight after his headlining matchup against Jayson Velez this Friday, May 4, on the next edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN.
“There’s no doubt. Nobody could deny — I will become a world champion,” Garcia told Fight Hub TV this week. “It should happen after this fight. You can’t deny — we’re, like — it’s just too, it’s too obvious. I’m going to become a world champion after this fight. It’s too obvious.”
This will be the second ESPN card that Garcia (14-0, 13 KOs) will headline within the past few months, with the first event being back in March at the Fantasy Springs Casino in a stoppage over Fernando Vargas. Garcia, in his confident and outgoing self, has garnered much attention since his Golden Boy Promotions’ debut in December of 2016.
This kid begging for an ass whopping
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) May 1, 2018
In addition to the attention from fans on all sides of the spectrum, Garcia has managed to get the attention of the newly crowned WBA super featherweight world champion Gervonta Davis (20-0, 19 KOs). Following this week’s words from Garcia, Davis, who just defeated Jesus Cuellar on the undercard of Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas in Brooklyn, tweeted his displeasure with Garcia’s words (as seen above).
Both fighters are young in their respective careers, but Davis has faced the higher-level competition. However, this does not phase Garcia in his abilities and feels that he is more than ready to face a talent such as the 23-year-old Davis. Each of these athletes have knocked out all but one of their opponents throughout their respective, professional careers. The one thing that would be a major obstacle in the making of this bout is the television broadcasters and the promoters. Davis is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and advised by Al Haymon, while Oscar De La Hoya heads the promotional team of Garcia.
Deals have been struck in the past for cross-promotional bouts between Haymon and De La Hoya, but this would still insert a higher-than-normal level of difficulty into the possible negotiations.
The Victorville, California native Garcia predicts that he will stop Velez inside four rounds, even though he [Velez] has never been stopped before and is coming into this matchup off of a three-fight win streak. Nevertheless, Davis is still on Garcia’s radar and wants to be able to make this fight at two different points throughout the next few years.
“I want it sooner rather than later. But, you know how boxing is,” Garcia said in regards to a potential bout with Davis. “But you know what? I’m trying to change the sport. There’s a lot of things that need to be changed and one of them I want to be changed is that we need to make these fights happen now. I don’t want to wait. Look it — we fight now, then we can fight five years later from now and see who’s better when we’re young and see who’s better when we’re a little older.”
Tickets for this Friday’s Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN event can be purchased on AXS.com or by calling the StubHub Center Box Office at (888) 929-7849.
