By: Sean Crose
Ryan Garcia was planning on facing junior welterweight king Devin Haney. Then he spoke with Floyd Mayweather. “I’m hanging out with Floyd,” the 25 year old star told Fight Hype in an interview posted on Tuesday. “I’m not going to lie, Floyd’s pretty influential. He’s like why would you do that? Why don’t you fight Rolly (junior welterweight titlist Rolando Ramiro) for the belt and then fight Devin Haney?” Garcia, impressed with the older man’s wisdom, decided to take Floyd’s advice. Romero, however, apparently wasn’t having it, for he ended up signing to fight Isaac Cruz on the Keith Thurman-Tim Tszyu pay per view undercard.
Garcia, suffice to say, wasn’t happy with the sudden change of course. “I always wanted to beat his ass for a long time,” he said of Romero. Garcia was also confused as to why Romero would choose to fight Cruz rather than himself. “Why would I get beat up on a co main event for less money,” he asked rhetorically of Romero, “when you could have been (in) the main evert?” While it’s true Romero would certainly headline his own pay per view card if he fought Garcia rather than Cruz, it’s also true that there’s two sides to every story. “I don’t even know if he’s going to make a million dollar for this fight,” Garcia said, clearly perplexed.
The truth is that you can see the influence of Mayweather on Romero by watching the interview. Garcia talks in parts like a businessman-boxer in the Mayweather mold. While there’s little doubt Mayweather’s career strategy paid off handsomely for Mayweather, it’s questionable whether Garcia has the kind of generation defining ability Mayweather had. While it’s true Mayweather could pick and choose his opponents later in his career, it’s also true that he was absolutely dominant in the ring. Garcia, on the other hand, lost his first true superfight when he was stopped by Gervonta Davis last year.
What’s more, when Mayweather was the same age as the 25 year old Garcia, he had won world titles in three separate weight divisions. Garcia has yet to win a world title in any of his 25 pro bouts. Still, the fighter known as “King Ry” made it clear that he’s looking ahead with confidence. “I’m getting right back on track,” he said. That’s good news, but against who? Haney may well still be available for a mega fight, of course. The question is, can Garcia best the insanely skillful Haney? And if he can’t, then what?
