Ryan Garcia has made it clear that 2020 will be the year that he makes the leap from highly regarded prospect to one of the best fighters in all of boxing.
The 21-year-old raised eyebrows last November with a first-round knockout of Romero Duno on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez's victory over Sergey Kovalev and silenced quite a few naysayers who felt that Garcia was more of an attraction than a true talent who belongs among the current crop of top tier fighters. But the man with 4.8 million followers on Instagram has big plans this year and they start with his Valentine's Day showdown with Francisco Fonseca at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., live on DAZN.
Should he emerge victorious, Kingry is after the best that the 135-pound division has to offer. And, fortunately, it's a division that is loaded with talent. There's Vasiliy Lomachenko, who is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, fellow rising stars Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney, as well as stiff tests in Richard Commey, Luke Campbell and Robert Easter.
But there's one name that stands head and shoulders above them all when it comes to the biggest fight that can be made.
And it's not even close.
"Easily Gervonta Davis," Garcia told DAZN News after Wednesday press conference. "Star wise, Gervonta is bigger than all of them, and I’m a big star. You see all the (websites) post about Gervonta and me. You don’t see any (websites) talking about Devin Haney and Lomachenko. They’re talking Gervonta Davis on Shade Room (a radio show on Sirius XM) and all of them. That should show you right there. We’re the biggest up and coming fighters right now."
The two fighters have carved out a significant space on social media as Garcia and Davis have nearly 7 million Instagram followers combined. But aside from that, both are unbeaten and have been recognized as the future of the sweet science. A showdown is certain to be one that captures the younger demographic along with the hardcore fight fans.
Garcia has made it clear that he wants that fight with the current WBA (regular) lightweight champion to happen in 2020. Garcia's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, appears to be interested in the idea of matching two of the brightest young stars for a potential showdown. Aside from the fact that Garcia and Davis could rake in viewers, it's an opportunity for De La Hoya to square off with longtime rival, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"Ryan is ready for a championship fight this year," De La Hoya said on The Petros & Money Show. "I have something to say: Mayweather is the promoter of Tank, he has people who work with him and he is his promoter. And if Floyd wants to give me a rematch, let's do it. He has his fighter, I have Ryan Garcia, and if Ryan wins this Friday the 14th, let's make the fight. Promoter against promoter, fighter against fighter, it will be a big fight."