Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya is predicting very big things for rising super featherweight prospect Ryan Garcia (13-0, 12 KOs), who is on a vicious streak of knockout wins.
He fought six times in 2017 and stopped all six opponents - five of them in three rounds or less.
Garcia, who is Victorville-born Garcia, compiled an amateur record of 215-15. He made his Golden Boy debut on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins final fight against Joe Smith last December 17th at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles.
Garcia started boxing at the age of seven and picked up numerous titles and medals in the amateur ranks - including being a 15-time National Gold Medal Champion, a Youth Worlds 2016 Gold Medalist, a Junior Worlds National 2014 Silver Medalist, a 2015 Gold Medalist in the Bi-National Tournament Mexico Vs. United States, a National Junior Olympics 2014 Silver Medalist, a National Police Athletic League Champion from 2008-2016, a four-time National Silver Gloves Champion: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and a 2009 and 2012 Junior Golden Gloves champion.
At the moment, Golden Boy's biggest star is Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs), who is also boxing's biggest pay-per-view cash cow in the United States.
But De La Hoya views Garcia as the next superstar in the Golden Boy stable.
He believes Garcia will capture a world title by the end of 2018 and begin his march towards becoming a potential superstar in the pay-per-view market.
"I strongly feel that Ryan Garcia is going to become a world champion in 2018. And Not only become a world champion, but he will become a pay-per-view star. I believe that he's kid who's next in line, right after Canelo," De La Hoya told Forbes.
"Canelo still has many years ahead of him. Ryan Garcia is a good looking kid, has a really big following on social media already, he loves engaging with the fans - but most importantly - he can fight. He can fight, so I think that kid there is gonna be something special. I'm predicting it right now."
2023-10-20 06:39:21
