Ryan Garcia has outlined a list of three fighters that he wants to face next year following his fight with Oscar Duarte.
Garcia will face the Mexican on December 2nd, 2023, in his first fight under his new trainer, Derrick James, against a Mexican who has stopped his last 11 opponents. The pressure is on Garcia to perform, having been beaten in his last fight against Gervonta Davis with a seventh-round stoppage. Thereafter, the talk turned towards whether Garcia’s defensive frailties could be improved, which is why James was chosen, given his insistence on boxing fundamentals.
And provided that Garcia overcomes Duarte, the following three-man hit list has been drawn up: Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis. A fight against the first two could provide Garcia with the chance to win a first-world title. Lopez holds the WBO junior welterweight belt after having beaten Josh Taylor to get it. As for Haney, by the time a fight comes around, the ‘Dream’ could be in possession of Regis Prograis‘ WBC belt at 140 as the pair square off on December 9th, 2023.
As for a rematch with Davis, Garcia was adamant that he would do a lot better next time around at 140. The boxer was very vocal about how the 10-pound rehydration clause had impacted him in the fight at 135. Regardless of whether it was Davis, Garcia was open to facing any of the three fighters.
“I’m interested in all of them. Obviously, you always want to run it back when you take a loss. I feel like under different circumstances, I could beat him, but also, Devin Haney, we have a long history in the amateurs. He obviously has a pretty big fan base, too, and Teofimo can talk his a** off and his dad, too.
“So that would be crazy. I think Teofimo interests me a lot because I think that whole lead-up would be crazy due to his pops. Everybody knows the obvious [weight-drained issue] that I’m talking about. Can you do an interview dehydrated? Imagine boxing. So, for me, just level playing field. If you beat me, you beat me. It is what it is. I took that fight because, again, I was trying to change the system of boxing,” Garcia