“I will go to MMA to prove a point that God is greatest and I’ll beat whoever in MMA that they say I won’t beat,” Garcia said.
WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia may only be 22, but “The Flash” already has plans to retire from boxing in four years, and then possibly transition to MMA.
Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) recently stopped Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell to win the vacant WBC interim lightweight title. With the win, Garcia became the mandatory challenger to face champion Devin Haney (25-0, 15 KOs).
It seems that Garcia, who is signed to Golden Boy Promotions, doesn’t plan to follow the footsteps of his mentor Oscar De La Hoya as he revealed on the Rich Eisen show.
“26, I still plan to retire,” Garcia said. “But if I do return back in the ring, I will promise everybody that I will fight people that they say I won’t beat. You know what I’m willing to do? I really haven’t said this out loud but what I plan to do is, say at 26 I’m done retired and boxing is all good. You know what I’ll do?
“If they say, ‘Okay, you’ve beaten everybody in the ring, right?’ But somebody goes, ‘This ain’t real fighting. Real fighting is legs, choking, submission, all that.’ Guess what I’ll do? I’ll go prove to them that I’m the best fighter all around in the world,” Garcia said (Transcription via MMA Fighting).
Other than former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm, never has an accomplished boxer gone on to achieve success in MMA. Garcia plans to be the only man to do it, and he’s already got Conor McGregor on his radar.
“I’m talking about hands, I’m talking about wrestling. I will go to MMA to prove a point that God is greatest and I’ll beat whoever in MMA that they say I won’t beat. If it has to be Conor McGregor, I will. And I’m not saying this to get money. I don’t care about money. I’m saying this because that’s just how I feel.”