Unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford has claimed that Ryan Garcia has no intention of fighting one of his American rivals, despite calling him out following his comeback win against Oscar Duarte.
Garcia knocked Duarte out in the eighth-round of their contest, bouncing back from a first career defeat against Gervonta Davis in April to end the year on a high and get off to a winning start under new trainer Derrick James.
In the post-fight press conference, Garcia named his next targets, calling out WBA Super-Lightweight champion Rolando Romero but also saying he wanted to face WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson and ‘beat his ass.’
However, in an interview with Fight Hype, Crawford doubted Garcia having any true intentions of facing three-division champion Stevenson.
“He’s not going to fight Shakur. Ryan, he is a good kid, but I just don’t see him fighting Shakur.
“Ryan wouldn’t take that fight right now. It’s Shakur against everybody in the [lightweight] division, I don’t think nobody wants to see Shakur right now, in his division. You can say whatever you want, you can say that he is boring, you can say he doesn’t punch, you can say all these things about him but I don’t see nobody eager to get into the ring with him.”
Any fight with Stevenson would likely need to take place up at 140lbs, and, with Stevenson poised to follow in the footsteps of Devin Haney and re-unify the 135lb scene, the chances of seeing Stevenson-Garcia could be low, at least for now.
As for Romero, he has been ordered to defend his title by March 2024 against the winner of Ohara Davies-Ismael Barroso to avoid being stripped. Although, the delay of that fight may mean Romero is granted an extension.