Ryan García is climbing the lightweight ladder, and he is climbing fast.
The 22-year-old American has upped his undefeated record to 21 wins (18 KOs) with the recent 7th round TKO victory over Luke Campbell to clinch the WBC interim lightweight title.
Previously, “KingRy” has won the WBC-NABF Junior super featherweight belt against Miguel Carrizoza in 2017 September, and in 2018 May secured the WBC-NABF, and WBO–NABO super featherweight titles against Jayson Vélez.
García earned the WBC Silver lightweight title in November 2019, defeating Romero Duno in a quick 1st round knockout. The Ring magazine and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) rank him the third best active lightweight boxer in the world, while ESPN and BoxRec rank him 4th and 5th respectively.
Its a no brainer that a lot more wins and titles are in store for Ryan García in his career, but as the pugilist himself shockingly says- he doesn’t care one bit about the belts.
I wear this belt because it looks good: Ryan García
Ryan García recently made an appearance on ESPN+’s “Stephen A’s World” hosted by sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith, where he stated that he’s currently focused on progressing in his professional career.
“I’m trying to figure out my next move and where to place this king piece (his WBC interim belt),” García said in the show.
García is slated to face WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney in the future to unify the title and the boxer himself mentions Teófimo López as well.
Teófimo López is the current WBA (Super), WBO and IBF titleholder, but in García’s opinion, the boxer matters, not the belts.
“I’m not naive to say that he doesn’t matter. Of course, Teófimo matters,” García implied, “what doesn’t matter is belts.
“I wear this belt because it looks good. Doesn’t it look good? It does make me look good,” the 22-year-old went on, “The truth is, there’s too many belts, there are too many champions.
“You don’t know who the true champion is. If Teofimo wants to hold that crown the way he wants to hold it, that’s fine.” (H/T BoxingScene)
Aside from his pro boxing plans, Ryan García is set to face WBA (Super) welterweight champion of the world Manny Pacquiao (62–7–2, 39 KOs) in an exhibition match this year, the bout which García addresses as his ‘dream’.
