Ryan Garcia ended a 15-month layoff with a decision win over Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9, and is already putting a little early hype behind his next fight, though no opponent has yet been named.
“Don’t worry, when I have concrete information on my next opponent, I’ll make sure I let everyone who follows me know,” Garcia wrote on social media. “It’s in the works and I’m sure you will be very pleased.”
The 23-year-old Garcia (22-0, 18 KO) has been connected to possible fights with Joseph Diaz Jr and Maxi Hughes, with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn pushing hard for Hughes (25-5-2, 5 KO) to get the shot.
Diaz has been critical of Garcia since “King Ry” pulled out of a scheduled fight last year, and said after Garcia-Tagoe that Garcia doesn’t have the heart to fight top fighters at 135 lbs.
However, Diaz has also said he plans to return in July, and that he will be returning to the 130 lb division, possibly against Jono Carroll. Now, if Golden Boy give him a great offer for a Garcia fight, maybe that still happens.
The biggest possible options would be the Kambosos-Haney winner, with that fight coming on June 4, or maybe a fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, whose deal with Mayweather Promotions will be up soon. Davis has been highly critical of Floyd Mayweather in recent months. It’s also not the first time there’s been friction between the parties.
Davis faces Rolando Romero on May 28 in a Showtime PPV main event, but if he gets through that and leaves Mayweather and Premier Boxing Champions — he doesn’t have to leave PBC to leave Mayweather Promotions, to be clear — and Golden Boy/DAZN can offer him big-time money to fight Garcia, that could be on the table.
Either of those options, Tank or the Kambosos-Haney winner, would be received very well. Diaz would probably be received fine. Hughes, for instance, probably wouldn’t be, with respect to the run his career has been on, and to the fact Eddie Hearn is doing exactly what he should be for Hughes, angling for him to get a big fight.
We’ll just have to see how this plays out, but hopefully Ryan’s right and we get a matchup that excites people.