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Ryan Garcia made waves in the lightweight division after signing to Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions in 2016 at just 17 years old. His first real challenge came in 2021 when he stepped into the ring with Luke Campbell, a former Olympic gold medalist.
DAZN recently posted a clip on their Instagram, during which Garcia lists off his top pound-for-pound boxers right now. He said:
"Number one, Canelo. Number two, Terence Crawford. Number three, Chocolatito - dude's a beast. Number four... myself. That's it."
Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez, and Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez are all contenders for the pound-for-pound list. Crawford passes the eye-test with ease and has demonstrated immense talent in bouts against the likes of Shawn Porter, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Amir Khan and Victor Postol.
Gonzalez, likewise, has not hidden his skills. Bouts with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Akira Yaegashi demonstrated his exceptional talent. However, he's yet to have had the kind of legacy fights often required to secure a position on the list.
Out of the three men listed, Canelo Alvarez's record is the most demonstrative of his talent. He has proven his place by stepping into the ring with the best of his division time and time again.
Ryan Garcia's career so far
Ryan Garcia made his professional debut in 2016 at the age of 17. He fought on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr., the infamous fight where Hopkins was knocked out of the ring. Garcia won his fight with Edgar Meza in the first round.
Garcia fought seven times in 2016. In 2017, he fought six more times - winning each by knockout or TKO. In 2019, Garcia fought Romero Duno on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight title fight. Garcia knocked Duno out in the first round.
'King Ryan' had his toughest fight in 2021 when he faced off against Luke Campbell of Yorkshire, England. Campbell was coming off a 12-round fight with Vasily Lomachenko, which he lost via decision.
In the second round of their bout, Garcia was knocked down. However, he mounted a comeback to win the fight via stoppage in the seventh.
Ryan Garcia most recently fought in April 2022. He stepped into the ring to face former IBO Champion Emmanuel Tagoe, of Accra, Ghana. Tagoe had a record of 32-1-0 with 15 knockouts going into the bout. However, it was a one-sided affair that Garcia won via unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
Although Garcia has demonstrated talent, he is yet to secure himself a position on the pound-for-pound list. Within his own division, the competition is great. He is yet to test his merit against the likes of Lomachenko, George Kambosos, Gervonta Davis, Teofimo Lopez or Devin Haney.
Others, such as Shakur Stevenson and Josh Taylor, are also just a few pounds away.
