Ryan Garcia posted today on X, saying that he “can’t wait” to tell the fans who he will be fighting next. He says the fans can’t tell he’s taking “weak fights,” which is a signal that he’s NOT fighting in the next rematch with Devin Hani because that matchup would be considered weak by the fans.
De La Hoya’s influence
Potential opponents that many believe Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) could face include one of these fighters:
– Teofimo Lopez
– Vasiliy Lomachenko
Of the two, Teofimo (21-1, 13 KOs) would be the most likely due to Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya saying he wants him next for Ryan. Teofimo was also in London for the Ring Awards party and met Turki Al Sheikh. It’s an easy fight, since Theo is unopposed and fights in the same division as Ryan at 140.
Teofimo still holds the WBO light heavyweight title and is one of the most popular fighters in the division. It would be a great fight and the promotion would be huge because Theo can help get the fans interested. It wouldn’t just be Ryan doing all the hard work, like when he was fighting Devin Hani.
Kingry and Haney will likely fight again in 2025, provided Devin and Bill don’t try to boss Ryan around, acting like they’re on Side A and insisting he agree to VADA testing. Boxing fans are still interested in another fight between them despite the one-sided nature of their clash last April.
Avoiding mud
If you’re Garcia, you might be better off washing your hands of Hani and moving on. If he does fight him, he will likely sully the promotion by reminding fans and media that Kingry tested positive for Ostarine in the previous fight. Devin will probably mention him so often that Ryan’s name will be called dragged through the mud many times when the fight takes place. There would be no victory because his national team would be tarnished.
A clean break
There’s no way out if the fans think Garcia is a drug cheat because Hanney kept telling them he was dirty for the previous fight. It wouldn’t be worth it for Ryan to take a battle with Devin in the long run. It would have been fine if Hannay didn’t go on about Garcia’s positive test, but he already talked about it vociferously last week during an interview at his training in London.
Can’t wait for you to see who I’m up against 👀👀
One thing you can’t say about me is that I’m a poor fighter
Only one really does
— RYAN GARCIA (@RianGarcia) January 15, 2025
