In this interview with Fight Hub TV lightweight Ryan Garcia discusses his big plans for this year, looking towards beating Gervonta Davis, and retiring by the time he’s 26 years old. Check out some excerpts of his interview below.
Ryan Garcia on what he wants to achieve this year:
“I’ve talked to my coaches, I just wanna fight tough fights now. No matter who it is I wanna be in there because I have the ability to land shots and I have the ability to win those fights. So I told my team, you know, let’s go guns blazing, I want everybody — no matter who they are.”
On if he’s building towards a fight with Jorge Linares:
“Yeah, Jorge in May, depending on how he looks. If he gets knocked out again in the first round I’m not gonna fight him. But if he wins this fight convincingly and looks good, I’ll fight him.”
On if Linares wins but looks bad doing it:
“I don’t want to fight him, I want to fight people that people are like ‘Damn, might not be too good for Ryan,’ like they did with Duno...I want those type of fights.”
On why he’s now seeking the toughest challenges out there:
“Because like these fights are good, like I’m winning all of ‘em but it’s not making me happy. I wanna fight somebody to give me a little bit of a challenge — like Duno, I thought for sure aybe because he can take a shot but he got knocked out so it’s like I want a little tougher people now.”
On what we can expect to see different from him in this next fight:
“You’re gonna see me as the hunter. You know, I’m gonna be stalking that man down. And you’re gonna see that I usually box from mid-range and the outside and catch you coming in, but this time you’re gonna see my skills coming forward, and you’re gonna be impressed because I fight even better coming forward.”
On why he hasn’t been fighting in that style before, if that’s the case:
“I haven’t had to. The shots were right there in front of me. I can see them before they even happen so this time I feel like I’ma have to create those opportunities a little bit more and that’s when I will apply the pressure and counter him before he even knows it.”
On only being 21 and athletes typically peaking in their late 20s, and if he feels he’s already coming into his own:
“I’m not at my peak but there’s something special. And I will prove that when I beat Gervonta Davis this year. You know, I’m not even at my prime but I could beat him right now.”
On how likely it is that a fight with Davis could be made:
“It’s 100% likely...We’ll make that fight happen, trust me. For sure, 1000%.”
On those who believe that’s a bad fight for him:
“I want that. I want him to knock these next guys out so fast, so clean. I want him to obliterate Leo Santa Cruz. I want him to be so confident, dominant, so when I do it it’s gonna be even a bigger shock than it would’ve been.”
On if a title fight isn’t as important to him as a fight with Davis:
“Nah, I don’t care about a title. A title means shit. Look it, everybody’s getting titles. They’re gifted titles. Don’t mean nothing to me. When I seen Gervonta got like a title from fighting Gamboa I threw my cup away. I was like ‘I’m done,’ I’m not worried about no title. I thought it was maybe just a fight at 135, but a title shot?! Crazy.”
On what he made of Gamboa making it so far in the fight with Davis:
“I didn’t get impressed at all. I mean, did you? Think about it, a guy with a torn (Achilles), how could he even move let alone getting punched by Gervonta Davis? Kudos to him, a lot of respect to Gamboa. Don’t get it wrong, I’m saying a lot about Tank but he’s a helluva fighter...I probably would’ve been a fan of him if I wasn’t boxing. I like how he fights but I feel I could beat him.
“After Tank, I’ma star, then (the rest) will have to beg me for a fight after that fight.”
On wanting to retire by 26:
“Yeah, I’m gonna beat everybody that you could think of then leave.”