Ryan Garcia said he would never fight at lightweight again after defeating Javier Fortuna.
Last year, Garcia was the WBC interim champion at 135lbs but against Emmanuel Tagoe earlier this year he fought at a 139lb catchweight, and fought at junior welterweight against Fortuna on Saturday evening.
Garcia stands at 5’10” which is at the top end for many fighters up to light heavyweight, and at 23-year-old he is likely to naturally fill out, meaning lightweight would probably be a struggle for him in the coming years.
Moving to 140lbs opens up a string of potential new opponents, and with George Kambosos’ rematch against Devin Haney still on the cards, all the major belts are tied up for the foreseeable.
140lbs is being broken up as Josh Taylor focuses on a rematch rather than remaining undisputed, and his shelf life in the division is limited. That could see a fight against Gervonta Davis be made at junior welterweight,
Speaking after his win against Fortuna on DAZN, he stated he was done with the lightweight division.
“No, I’m never going back down to 135. I’m going to stay at 140,” he stated.
Tank? Teofimo? Haney? DAZN looks at who Ryan Garcia could fight next.