It looks as though Golden Boy are keen on pitting two of its young lightweight prospects against one another later this year. Mike Coppinger reports that a clash between Ryan “Kingry” Garcia and Filipino slugger Romero Duno is “being discussed” for the fall; The Ring’s Ryan Songalia confirmed that Duno is “already training in LA waiting for the word” on the fight’s status.
Earlier in the evening, ESPN’s Steve Kim reported that Garcia’s (18-0, 15 KO) next fight would “possibly” happen on September 14th in Carson, California. I’ll admit that that’s a head-scratcher; all signs point to DAZN holding a huge card in Las Vegas on that date, and that’s Garcia’s usual network.
In any event, Duno (20-1, 15 KO) is a definite step up. The 23-year-old has won 11 straight since a loss to the until-recently undefeated Mikhail Alexeev in 2016, including a gritty technical decision over Juan Antonio Rodriguez in May. Garcia’s best win to date came against a past-it Jayson Velez last year.
I expect this to be a good learning experience for both and could likely lead to the winner fighting for a title by the end of 2020. Early picks?