Major Update On Luke Campbell Vs. Ryan Garcia
While a date still needs to be announced, we now know that a deal has been struck for an interim WBC Lightweight Title fight.
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman announced that Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell will face one another in November. The bout will take place somewhere in the United States. The purse bid between the two has been canceled following an agreement in principle to face one another.
“Done deal! @GoldenBoyBoxing and @MatchroomBoxing have reached an agreement and the fight is on @luke11campbell Vs @KingRyanG in the USA.”
Done deal! @GoldenBoyBoxing and @MatchroomBoxing have reached an agreement and the fight is on @luke11campbell Vs @KingRyanG in the USA date to be determined soon @WBCBoxing @EddieHearn pic.twitter.com/ldQ7fwinE8
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) August 19, 2020
An announcement was made during a virtual purse bid session.
“To give everyone a bit of clarity, we had some issues with the contract we sent to Golden Boy,” Eddie Hearn stated, via Boxing Scene. “The fight will take place in America. Robert and Eric Gomez (president of GBP) will work on that. The date will be middle-to-end of November.”
Garcia (20-0) accepted the World Boxing Council’s order, choosing between that and the WBO’s pick of Emmanuel Tagoe. He has won seven fights since 2018. “KingRy” 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.
There almost wasn’t just an issue regarding if the fight would happen, but Garcia’s relationship with Golden Boy and DAZN. Garcia wanted both to pay him what he believes he is worth. That resulted in Garcia requesting Golden Boy to release him from his contract. With a Campbell fight agreed upon and an opportunity to fight for a title, it appears the relationship is looking better by the day.
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.
Campell was supposed to fight Javier Fortuna for the interim title, but the latter chose to fight Jorge Linares. Now a new fight is set to be made for Fortuna after Linares tested positive for COVID-19. The WBC Lightweight Champion is Devin Haney.