Ryan Garcia finally claimed world honours last weekend and has already been given the chance to become a two-division champion.
‘King Ry’ defeated Mario Barrios at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to win the WBC welterweight title, dropping his rival on his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory.
Garcia had come up short in his previous world title bid, a unanimous decision loss to Rolly Romero last year, but now that he has gold around his waist, he has affirmed his status as one of the biggest names in the sport.
Speculation has already begun about who Garcia could potentially take on next, with the likes of Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney and Conor Benn all touted as potential opponents.
One reigning world champion wants Garcia to step up in weight and face him though, after Josh Kelly called out the 27-year-old for a fight.
Speaking to TalkSPORT, Kelly revealed he would be willing to defend his IBF super-welterweight crown against ‘King Ry.’
“I tweeted this morning, Ryan Garcia if he wanted to become a two-weight world champion and step up to 154lbs.
“It could be the Battle of the Pretty Boys.”
Kelly won the IBF super-welterweight title last month when he earned a majority decision victory over previously unbeaten Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Garcia has never fought above welterweight in his career so a move up to 154lbs to face Kelly seems unlikely, with the Sunderland fighter perhaps more likely to land a fight against one of the other reigning world champions in his division, with Xander Zayas holding the WBO and WBA belts, while Sebastian Fundora is the WBC champion.
