Are We Close To Seeing Ryan Garcia Vs. Luke Campbell?

After there were some initial delays in the process, it looks like Ryan Garcia is one step closer to facing his toughest opponent to date in Luke Campbell.

Golden Boy’s Eric Gomez and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn told The Ring that an agreement has been made in principle for the two to fight one another. The winner would receive the interim WBC Lightweight Title and the chance to face WBC Lightweight Champion Devin Haney. If an agreement wasn’t made on both sides, the bout would have gone to purse bids.

“The purse bid is off, and we’ve secured a seven-day extension from the WBC so that Golden Boy and Matchroom can finalize contracts for the Garcia-Campbell fight,” Gomez said. “We are making great progress and plan to get this done within the week… All the details have been agreed to and we just gave to get the contracts done and signed.”

Garcia (20-0) accepted the World Boxing Council’s order, choosing between that and the WBO’s pick of Emmanuel Tagoe.

Garcia has won seven fights since 2018. He won the WBO-NABO and WBC Silver Lightweight Titles against Romero Duno in November via TKO. The 22-year-old won his last bout in February, hitting Francisco Fonseca with a vicious knockout punch. He has 17 wins via some form of knockout.

Throughout the process, there was an issue with Garcia and his relationship with Golden Boy and DAZN. Garcia wants both to pay him what he believes he is worth. That has resulted in Garcia requesting Golden Boy to release him from his contract. Now that the deal with Campbell is close to being a reality, it appears both sides are at an understanding.

“We have it in writing and he knows exactly what the deal is,” Gomez went on to say. “We walked him through the whole deal and we are in step with each other. He has accepted everything and we have a deal. This is a good fight and he knows it’s a big opportunity.”

The 32-year-old Campbell (20-3) has fought for lightweight gold twice; he lost to Linares in 2017 for the WBA Lightweight TItle and lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko last August for the WBA, WBO, and WBC Lightweight TItles. Before the Lomachenko loss, Campbell was on a three-fight win streak.

As far as when and where the bout would take place, Gomez stated that November is in play. Many boxing promoters are hoping for fans inside arenas by then. Due to COVID-19 travel and health concerns, it is unknown if the U.S. or U.K. would host the bout.

“Planning a November fight either in the U.K. or U.S. so we have options in terms of live crowds returning,” Eddie Hearn would end up saying.

“There are different provisions depending on if the fight is in the U.S. or the U.K.,” Gomez stated.