Luke Campbell: record, next fight and profile →
Jayson Velez believes in Ryan Garcia. The Puerto Rican veteran is one of only three of Garcia’s 20 pro opponents who’ve gone the distance with the unbeaten lightweight contender. Velez, who lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Garcia in May 2018, has noticed numerous improvements in the 21-year-old Garcia since their fight.
Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell is highly motivated to get in the ring with the division's rising star, undefeated Ryan Garcia. Recently, the World Boxing Council ordered Campbell and Garcia to collide for the vacant WBC interim-lightweight world title.
Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez, who promotes unbeaten Ryan Garcia, says his boxer is demanding fights like Luke Campbell. The World Boxing Council recently ordered Garcia and Campbell to fight each other for the vacant WBC-interim lightweight world title.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia, is hoping to finalize a world title eliminator with Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell.
The WBC ordered an interim lightweight title fight between Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell last week, and the war of words has already started between the two fighters. Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs), a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, is promising to pump the brakes on the up and coming prospect Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs).
Undefeated WBC lightweight champion, Devin “The Dream” Haney (24-0, 15 KOs), sounds off, putting the big names surrounding his weight class on notice as he awaits the announcement of this next fight. In addition, Haney gives his thoughts on his next fight during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the mental and physical benefits of being quarantined.
Ryan Garcia is officially ready to pursue the World Boxing Council (WBC) title. BoxingScene.com has learned that the unbeaten lightweight contender will no longer proceed with negotiations for a title eliminator as ordered by the World Boxing Organization (WBO). Garcia briefly entered talks with Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe (31-1, 15KOs) for a bout to have determined the mandatory challenger for unified lightweight titlist Vasilily Lomachenko.
Armed with two desirable options, Ryan Garcia has chosen the path he prefers to travel. Now comes the part of the involved promoters securing a deal to put this matter to bed altogether. The unbeaten lightweight contender has accepted an invitation by the World Boxing Council (WBC) to enter talks for an interim title fight with England’s Luke Campbell. The fight was ordered by the WBC on July 1, with García—after discussing with his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions—agreeing to take part in the first of a series of lightweight fights sanctioned by the WBC.
Perhaps no boxer in the sport has more masterfully utilized social media than Ryan Garcia. The unbeaten lightweight contender has 6.6 million followers on Instagram and more than 415,000 followers on Twitter. The 21-year-old Garcia uses those powerful platforms regularly to generate interest in him and his future fights, and has made himself more marketable.
As the lightweight division continues to take shape even in the current pandemic climate, there remains work to be done. Several moves have been made within the WBC 135-pound rankings, with a Diamond title fight set, an interim title fight was ordered and a voluntary defense was granted to its unbeaten world champion Devin Haney. Meanwhile, the IBF is prepared to line up a mandatory challenger in waiting for the winner of a forthcoming three-belt unification bout between WBA/WBO lightweight titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10KOs) and IBF title claimant Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12KOs).