Ryan Garcia passed one of his biggest tests to date last Saturday night (Jan. 2, 2021) by surviving an early knockdown at the hands of Luke Campbell before storming back to earn a seventh-round knockout win.
In doing so, “King Ryan” improved to 21-0 in his young boxing career. At just 22 years old, Garcia has all of the makings of the sport’s next big superstar thanks to his explosive fighting style, quick hands and marketability.
In fact, according to his promoter Oscar de la Hoya, Garcia will be an even bigger star than Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who just so happens to be one of the biggest boxing stars in the world at the moment.
“I strongly feel that Ryan is going to be 10 times bigger than Canelo,” said de la Hoya shortly after Garcia starched Campbell.
It’s important to note that while de la Hoya isn’t completely bashing Alvarez, the two did recently have a falling out. Indeed, Oscar was Canelo’s promoter for some time before Alvarez decided to part ways with Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN.
Alvarez also has a close and personal friendship with Garcia, as he was sitting ringside to see the young pugilist continue his ascension over the weekend.
While Garcia proved he is the real deal, he has a lot of road to cover before he can overtake Alvarez, who currently owns a record of 54-1-2 with his lone loss coming at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Canelo (30) also currently holds the WBA (Super), The Ring, WBC super Middleweight titles as well as the WBO Light Heavyweight, WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF Middleweight titles.
Do you think Garcia has the chops to one day overtake as Alvarez, or is de la Hoya still a bit salty over the Canelo breakup?