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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ryan Garcia says he might not return to lightweight division

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We might’ve seen that last of Ryan Garcia at 135 pounds.

He said Friday after he weighed in at the junior welterweight limit of 140 for his fight against Javier Fortuna on Saturday in Los Angeles that he might not return to lightweight.

The fight at Crypto.com Arena was originally a lightweight matchup but Fortuna informed Garcia and organizers that he couldn’t make 135.

“I was thinking the other day that I might never go back to 135,” Garcia said during an interview with DAZN, which will stream the fight. “That’s just how my life is breaking out. Both of the fights, [Emmanuel] Tagoe and this fight, both times we were scheduled to fight at 135 but for some reason or another they couldn’t make weight or we agreed to a catch weight (Tagoe).

“This one in particular Fortuna couldn’t make the weight. I was determined to make 135 and would’ve made it easy. But it just feels better to be at 140.”

Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) seemed to be on track to face the top lightweights, including undisputed champion Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis.

The 23-year-old rising star made it clear that he doesn’t care about title belts. It’s about who you fight and the money you make, not shiny trinkets that many believe are increasingly insignificant because there are so many of them.

Garcia believes Davis, his prime rival, would fight him at 140.

“It doesn’t matter,” Garcia said when he was asked about the belts at 135 he would be forsaking. “You guys put so much emphasis on belts. Let ’em go, they don’t mean s—. They don’t mean s— these days. I wouldn’t be proud to say I’m undisputed if I beat [George] Kambosos [as Haney did]. I’ll be proud when I beat everybody.

“… All that matters is beating the guy who is the man (Davis?), the guy people think you can’t beat and to make money.”

Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs) weighed in at 139.8 on Friday, perhaps looking somewhat soft.

Garcia was asked after the weigh-in whether he thought his opponent appeared to be in shape.

“F— no,” he said. “When I saw him I was surprised. Why is he so chubby? He had to cut so much weight.”

Garcia is about a 9-1 favorite to win what could turn out to be his debut as a junior welterweight.

 

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