I USED to think Ryan Garcia was all image and hype.
Going into the Luke Campbell fight (in 2021) I was sure Luke would beat him. I had watched a couple of Garcia’s earlier fights and he knocked over a couple of opponents that weren’t at his level. Luke was a very good fighter. He gave a good account of himself against (Vasiliy) Lomachenko and (Jorge) Linares, and with his pedigree I was confident he’d beat Garcia. But he got caught with a cracking body shot and lost.
I thought fair play to him he definitely has something and must be a very good fighter to stop Luke Campbell, even though he wasn’t in his prime. Then in the Gervonta Davis fight I thought his performance wasn’t up to that elite level. He made a lot of mistakes. His chin was in the air, his hands were coming down, he was over eager, and his IQ wasn’t at the level of Davis. And after he got caught with the body shot in round seven, which ended the fight, I thought he could have got up.
He is world level, marketed very well, and he could become a world champion but not undisputed or a great fighter of this era. He does have good power, he’s fast, very athletic but he makes too many mistakes to be one of the elite fighters out there. Teofimo Lopez would beat him comfortably, Devin Haney would, Jack Catterall would, Josh Taylor would, and Regis Prograis would.
THE Chantelle Cameron-Katie Taylor rematch was a cracking fight.
Last week I said it would be the same result as last time, but it certainly wasn’t. Fair play to them both. Chantelle fought on with a horrible cut. With the adrenaline going, and being so focused on the fight, you put something like that out of your mind, but there’s no way she didn’t feel that. She must’ve felt it every time a shot landed or when the heads came together again.
A third fight between the two would be huge. It would be huge anywhere they put it but if they do fight again, I imagine it will be in Ireland because Katie’s the draw. But in fairness, if that’s even a thing in boxing, it would be nice to see the third fight in England, on home turf for Chantelle. If that doesn’t happen, I would like to see Katie fight Amanda Serrano again. It was a really good fight first time around. It would be some spectacle if Serrano and Taylor had their rematch over 12x3s in America or at Croke Park. That would be a mega event.
If she’d lost last Saturday, I would have like to have seen her retire. I still think if I was managing or advising her, I’d probably tell her to retire. She’s champion again, two-weight undisputed. Ride off into the sunset. She’s the greatest ever female fighter. But having performed so well, it will be difficult to walk away. The ball’s in her court.
David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade was entertaining while it lasted. I do rate Andrade. He’s skilful, he’s slick; it’s just a shame he hasn’t been in there with some of the people you would have liked to have seen him in with. I would have like to have seen the fight with him and Billy Joe Saunders that was meant to happen years ago. It might have been a bad fight with their styles, but I would have liked to have seen it.
Benavidez was too big and too strong and very good with it. Him and Canelo has got to be the next one. That has the potential to be a brilliant fight and a huge spectacle. I’d be super excited about that, more so than (Tyson) Fury vs. (Oleksandr) Usyk.
