After an anti-climatic points victory against Emmanuel Tagoe in his last outing, Ryan Garcia well and truly announced himself back as a superstar of the sport with a 6th round KO of Javier Fortuna.
Fortuna, a former WBA Super Featherweight champion, didn’t seem overawed by all the noise that comes with fighting Garcia. The 33-year-old Dominican tried to cause the upset, but Garcia’s performance proved there are levels in this sport.
‘KingRy’ was making his unofficial debut at Super Lightweight on Saturday and it now seems inevitable that much bigger fights lie ahead.
In his post fight press conference, as expected, Garcia called out Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis:
“I’m not going back down to 135(lbs) for nothing.”
“But I will fight Tank [Davis] next. If Tank wants that at 140.”
“If he wants it, let’s get it!”
With so much talent in the Lightweight and Super Lightweight divisions, it’s inconceivable to think the fans won’t be treated to some mega fights over the next 12 months.
The current king of the 135lb Lightweight division is Devin Haney who became the undisputed champion after defeating George Kambosos Jr in Australia last month.
Although a contractual rematch clause was in place, it now seems the fight is in doubt; and with Haney already declaring his willingness to go up to 140lbs, could we see a potential shootout against Garcia next?
‘The Dream’ was in the LA audience to witness the impressive performance and FightHype managed to catch his immediate reaction:
“He did what he was supposed to do. He did what we already thought he was going to do.”
“Fortuna’s crafty, but we all thought he would get him out of there.”
When asked if the performance showed ‘The Flash’ was ready for Gervonta Davis, Haney replied:
“If he says he’s ready for tank… he say’s he’s ready for the big fights so he should be in a big fight.”
The 23-year-old was pressed on if he saw any improvements in Garcia:
“I think his defence looked a little sharper tonight. Good speed, good speed.”
“But it’s hard to tell because Javier Fortuna isn’t in his prime anymore.”
Finally, the American was asked what was next for him:
“We got to see. I want to fight the best fighters in the world, I’ve been saying this for a while now.”
“I’m not ducking or dodging nobody, whoever it is I’ll be ready for them. October I’ll be back in the ring versus whoever.”