Irish boxer Stephen McKenna believes he could have beaten Ryan Garcia if he’d been in the same position as Luke Campbell.
Campbell was the first boxer to floor Garcia in his professional career but the 22-year-old Californian was able to recover in order to finish him with a fierce body blow to the liver in round seven of their clash last Saturday.
Garcia and McKenna sparred in 2018 before the American contender turned professional, and the 23-year-old Irishman was relatively unimpressed by him back then.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McKenna said: "He never really worked the body shots that much.
"He was always just trying that left hook and running on into the ropes, but he never did much body work or anything.
"At that time, I didn't think he had any power. During our spar he was a lot of tap, tap, and he was moving a lot. He was going from corner to corner.
"He looks like he was punching hard now at the minute, so he has worked on his power and his strength. He looks like he has a good punch, and he fought a good fight.
"When I first sparred with Ryan, I was still an amateur. He'd had 18 fights.
"Over this past year now, I'm hitting harder and harder. I'm getting stronger every day in the gym. I'm working savagely hard and I'll be ready for Ryan Garcia whenever the time comes. I'd fight him tomorrow, if I had the chance."
Looking at how the most recent fight played out, McKenna thinks that Campbell made a mistake in not pressing home his advantage once he’d knocked down Garcia. He believed there was a chance to exploit weakness in his shaken opponent.
"I don't think Luke realised how hurt he really was," explained McKenna. "There was over a minute left on the clock.
"If he had been an aggressive-style fighter, another fighter would have got him out of there, like Gervonta Davis or Teofimo Lopez. Luke is more of a stand-off fighter, it's not in his nature to be aggressive and come forward.
"Garcia was badly hurt. If I had been in there, I would have got Garcia out of there, if I had him hurt like that."