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With top contender Javier Fortuna scheduled to face #4 Jorge Linares on August 28th, Eddie Hearn claims that the WBC has ordered #2 Luke Campbell to face #3 Ryan Garcia, presumably for a crack at Devin Haney upon “The Dream’s” return.
Garcia (20-0, 17 KO) says he’s down.
I wouldn’t be opposed to making this the same sort of tournament the WBO’s got going on at 175, as Fortuna and Linares are apparently fighting for the “diamond” belt, but whatever Sulaiman and co. decide, history suggests that it will be a total mess.
Campbell (20-3, 16 KO) was last seen dropping a decision to Vasiliy Lomachenko last August in a bid for the then-vacant belt left behind by Mikey Garcia. Then Lomachenko was promoted to “franchise” champion and Haney named “world” champion, after which Haney injured his shoulder and was named “champion in recess.” Campbell was expected to face Fortuna for the vacant belt, then for the interim belt when Haney was reinstated, and now not at all.
Garcia, when not beefing with Oscar De La Hoya or trying to square up against MMA fighters like Henry Cejudo and Dillon Danis, has won his last two fights by first-round knockout. He turned down a July 4th date over an insufficient purse, and his Luigi strategy appears to have paid off with a potential final eliminator.