After being surrounded by seemingly endless controversy since the beginning of the year, Ryan Garcia appears to have mapped out his return to the world of boxing, targeting one fellow pound-for-pound contender ahead of his comeback.
Ryan Garcia suffered a damning defeat to Gervonta Davis back in 2023 but was able to bounce back with a stoppage victory over Oscar Duarte last December after ditching trainer Joe Goossen in favour of a move to work under Derrick James.
Following that victory, Garcia moved on to another blockbuster pay-per-view clash, squaring off against Devin Haney in what was originally a bid for the undefeated champion’s WBC super-lightweight title, until Garcia missed weight by four pounds and forwent the title opportunity. Still, the pair proceeded with the show and Garcia put together a career-best display to drop ‘The Dream’ on three occasions and pick up a majority-decision victory in one of the performances of the year.
However, shortly afterwards it was revealed that Garcia had failed a drugs test on both the day of the weigh-in and the day of the fight, which eventually resulted in his win being declared as a no contest and ‘King Ry’ being handed a one-year ban from the sport.
Still, in spite of the ban, Garcia has been vocal in his callouts of many opponents but has maintained that he will be unable to make the super-lightweight limit in the future.
In his latest social media request, the Californian called for a showdown with WBO super-lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, who has also been rumoured to be eyeing a move up to the welterweight division in the past.
Ryan Garcia vs Teofimo Lopez
For my return in April
Let’s make it happen teo
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) September 12, 2024
“Ryan Garcia vs Teofimo Lopez. For my return in April. Let’s make it happen Teo.”
Lopez is coming off of the back of disappointing points wins over Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett but has the unteachable tendency of being able to step up to the occasion when tasked against the bigger names in the sport – notably defeating both Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor in the past.
When asked of his thoughts ahead of a potential scrap with Garcia earlier this summer, ‘The Takeover’ refused to rule out the proposed fight for the future and admitted his belief that he and the controversial 26-year-old would make for a ‘great fight’, Lopez told ‘Compas On The Beat’.
“Absolutely [I would take that fight in the future]. Ryan is just Ryan, he likes to do what he likes to do and he likes to talk. He likes to rile up the media, however the guy is very nice and polite in person. So, he is just who he is and I think that is what makes him ‘King Ry’. Overall, I wish him nothing but the best, to him and his family, to his mother. I think that, if that comes around, we will make a great fight.”
As mentioned by Garcia, it is expected that he will return in late April 2025 due to the fact that his one-year ban was backdated to his April 20th fight date against Haney. Meanwhile, Teofimo Lopez’s move to welterweight could be imminent, with each of the three other champions at 140lbs looking elsewhere, much to his frustration.
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