Very few fighters in the sport of boxing command as much attention or revenue as "King" Ryan Garcia. One half a pay-per-view event with Gervonta "Tank" Davis that recorded a $22.8 million gate, and 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. Garcia has relocated to Texas from his Southern California residence prior and now is training with Derrick James in the Lone Star State.
Garcia, who shows the power of social media, has recorded paydays most world champions will never see without winning a world title in his career. Despite being stopped by Davis in his last fight, you could argue the intrigue around Garcia's return to the ring might be bigger than ever. Garcia will have a new trainer, and be fighting in a new weight class.
ProBox TV News spoke with Eric Gomez, the President of Golden Boy Promotions, to get information on the return of Garcia in the fall of 2023.
Garcia, who fought twice in 2022 getting a knockout victory over Javier Fortuna, and a unanimous decision over Emmanuel Tagoe - before his seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in April of this year.
"[Garcia] definitely wants to come back, and he is going to be moving up in weight as well [to] 140 [junior welterweight]," said Gomez. "The sky's the limit with Ryan, he fell short with Tank. It was a great event, good fight, he had his moments in the fight. I think fighting at 140 is going to benefit him. It is a better weight for him, he is a big kid. I think the weight affected him a little bit not takeaway from Tank, who fought the perfect fight, but yeah, we are looking forward to his return."
Garcia made the 136 lbs catchweight limit for Davis, but a rehydration clause forced him to stay within ten pounds of the limit prior to a certain time before the fight. Something that some supporters of Garcia feel could have impacted his performance.
Though Gomez would not reveal all the names, one did come up. During the course of the conversation, one name did come up that was offered to Garcia, and that name was Jose "Chon" Zepeda. Zepeda, a fan-favorite from Southern California, has an action-packed style that has seen him in multiple fight-of-the-year contenders.
As for any other details on if the event would be solely promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, or be done as a cross-promotion Gomez was very honest and forthright in explaining the following.
"We are open to a cross-promotion," said Gomez. "There [are] a few opponents we are looking at that are with other promoters. There are a few fights we can do in-house. It just really depends on Ryan and what he wants to do."
