Ryan Garcia smoked Conor Benn in just the second round on Saturday night gone but very little can be taken from the fight overall, on balance at this point.
Benn had not been in his class, not near it even. He got outclasses completely and fought a shockingly incompetent game plan.
He also dehydrated badly, clearly, to make that 147 pounds limit.
That said, Garcia displayed some solid defense to cover up and proved he can at least still punch in either hand, left and right, and has some punch at the 147 pounds division.
Big fights are the only thing that surely he is interested in at least trying to pursue moving on at this point, as people are still disgusted that he even took the fight against such poor opposition in the form of the UK’s Conor Benn in the first place.
As opposed to running from the Devin Haney rematch, a fight that is huge for him.
But think bigger for a moment.
The Gervonta Davis rematch is even bigger than that.
Go bigger than that even. There is bigger again than that, perhaps.
That is a fight against the Mexican boxing superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez of course. Alvarez returns shortly against unheralded Christian Mbilli.
Canelo is maybe still smarting from that beating Terence Crawford gave him last year in September in Las Vegas.
If he is victorious, not guaranteed against Mbilli, a fight vs Ryan Garcia could do huge numbers.
In the US and even around the planet. The boxers are familiar to one another, not long ago Garcia had a brief stint training alongside Canelo’s long time coach and mentor, Eddy Reynoso.
The sheer size of the fight given both boxers’ star status in the US, coupled too in that Garcia has some Latin American fans in Mexico and South America, as he claims Mexican heritage, makes it maybe the biggest fight in all of boxing.
On paper, Canelo looks on the slide from that Bud beating last year and Garcia, at least on paper, looks like he is getting stronger, even though he is not and is actually on the slide since the Romero defeat last year.
Garcia has underrated defense though and some solid foot movement and in theory if he used that foot speed to get in and out of range using his boxing to try to outbox Alvarez, maybe he could get a points decision.
He maybe has the ability but also maybe Alvarez has a diminished desire for the sport overall, the latter shall be revealed soon of course against Mbilli.
The numbers the event could do might eclipse both the Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis rematches for Garcia but the problem is double edged.
The sheer mass involved, if he gets hit by that kind of punch, even by a fading Alvarez, his chin is circumspect at that level and division.
The other thing is if Canelo even shall consider going to one hundred and sixty pounds again after that Bud beating at one hundred and sixty eight pounds last year.
Fast fighters are not something he deals good in boxing, clearly, from the Bud fight. You could say Garcia is just as fast and has even maybe slightly more speed than Bud, if not a little less ability, certainly defensively of course, than Bud.
Still, maybe the biggest fight in all of boxing, strangest things have happened then either pursuing such a mega bout.
Garcia is the biggest obstacle to such a bout happening, he surely if he is scared to fight Gervonta Davis underneath 147 pounds is even more scared to take on Alvarez up in that division.
Even still, an astronomical pay day for him if he mustered up the courage to even try to make such a fight.
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