"He's going to be bigger than Canelo Alvarez" - Oscar De La Hoya on Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia's promoter Oscar De La Hoya has claimed that he will be a bigger star than Canelo Alvarez.

Before Canelo Alvarez was defeated by Dmitry Bivol in May, he was regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. However, after the Mexican's shock defeat to the Russian, he has now dropped to number six, with Naoya Inoue being the new king.

'KingRy' also believes that if he beats his lightweight rival Gervonta Davis, it will give him the respect that he deserves.

Before De La Hoya took to Twitter to announce his decision to sell GoldenBoy Promotions, he spoke to David Faitelson of ESPN in an interview, where he said:

"I believe that Ryan Garcia, by staying focused and in boxing, can be successful. The sky is the limit. He's going to be a phenomenon, he's going to be bigger than Canelo Alvarez."

De La Hoya then added:

"When I was promoting Canelo from his first fight here in the United States against a Larry Mosley, he had no social network, no popularity. He had no presence in the United States. So, imagine a Ryan Garcia who has a lot of presence, winning a world championship."

Garcia is expected to make his return to the squared circle on July 16 against Javier Fortuna in Los Angeles. The Californian was last in the ring in April, where he defeated Emmanuel Tagoe by unanimous decision.

De La Hoya is currently the 23-year-old's promoter and formally the promoter of Alvarez. The former fighter has been involved with both boxers' careers during their early days as fighters. Hence, he has an understanding of Garcia's potential.

'KingRy' certainly has the popularity outside the ring, which will aid his attempt to become a star in the sport. However, his ability to be potentially 'bigger than Canelo' is yet to be discovered.

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Ryan Garcia - A potential 'bigger' star than Canelo Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez is one of the biggest stars in the sport as he's been involved in many huge fights and has attracted huge pay-per-view successes. This includes fights with Floyd Mayweather, Gennadiy Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and many more.

Ryan Garcia still has much more to prove if he wants to become a bigger star than the Mexican, however, he's certainly on the right track. The young fighter is involved with arguably the most competitive division in the whole of boxing, with most of his rivals being at prime age too.

The division includes former champions Vasyl Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez, and George Kambosos Jr. Additionally, Undisputed Champion Devin Haney and WBA (Regular) Champion Gervonta Davis sit at the top of the division.

With all these mega names in Garcia's weight class, it gives him a huge opportunity to apply top quality names to his resume.

'KingRy' is still yet to win his first world title. However, with his boxing skills and his large following, he's got massive potential to become a big star in the sport.