Ryan Garcia picked up a huge win in Dallas today, stopping Luke Campbell on a wicked seventh round body shot, a performance and victory that establishes him firmly as a real rising star in the boxing world.
One person obviously happy about that is promoter Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions is in need of a new lead superstar now that Canelo Alvarez has gone solo.
De La Hoya, who is still plotting his own potential boxing comeback as he nears his 48th birthday in a few weeks, talked about Garcia’s win over Campbell and what may come next for him at lightweight.
On Garcia being dropped in the second round
“Obviously you get a little worried, but the fact that he got up right away — I mean, it was like a flash knockdown, right? But it was a scary flash knockdown. And he became a man, that’s all there is to it. He became a man tonight. He needed this fight for validation. He needed this fight to prove to the boxing world that he belongs in there, and he passed with flying colors.”
“He did what every great champion does, get right back up. Especially from a really vicious right hook, it was a vicious right hook.”
On his grade for Garcia
“A-plus. A-plus! He did what he had to do. He took his time, he went after him when he had him hurt in (the sixth round). People went crazy, and that’s the making of a superstar.”
On what comes next for Garcia
“We’ll have to — I’m gonna sit down with Ryan’s team and figure it out. I want to make the best and the biggest fights possible for Ryan Garcia and for the fans.”
On Devin Haney possibly being next
“Yeah, we could possibly see that happen when we’re ready, when Ryan is ready. Obviously Ryan is ready to face anybody, that’s never a doubt. But it’s gonna be on our terms of Ryan Garcia. And it doesn’t mean business or this and that. No, when he’s ready, when he wants to. Every champion out there needs Ryan Garcia, it’s not the other way around.”
