A world champion has promised to “save the day” if he and Manny Pacquiao are tasked with replacing Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua on December 11.
It was announced last week that the two Brits will collide on that very date, headlining a Netflix and Ring event at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Then, just a few days later, The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reported that issues behind the scenes could prevent their heavyweight showdown from taking place.
It would appear, too, that the proposed chief support between Pacquiao and Shakur Stevenson could be scuppered, with the latter shifting his focus towards a potential unification match with Gary Antuanne Russell.
Depending on how things unfold, though, the 47-year-old ‘Pac Man’ could nonetheless end up securing a world title shot later this year.
This would follow his previous WBC title effort against Mario Barrios, which resulted in a draw after Pacquiao ended a near four-year layoff in July 2025.
Subsequently, Barrios was dethroned the following February, with welterweight champion Ryan Garcia now coming off a second-round stoppage of Conor Benn.
The 28-year-old then called out Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for a December clash, only to express his interest in facing Pacquiao during a recent live stream.
“Put me and Manny Pacquiao on Netflix – we’ll save the day. Me and Manny Pacquiao we’ll save that date, trust me, you guys hear that? Me and Manny Pacquiao on Netflix we would save that date, guaranteed.”
Ryan Garcia SHAMELESSLY says he’d fight Manny Pacquiao to ‘save the day’ if Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury falls through
What is it with all these active boxers being linked with Manny unless he’s fighting Floyd Mayweather, all these active boxers need to leave that old man ALONE! pic.twitter.com/2xEoWw7Png
— Boxing Massacre (@BoxingMassacre) September 28, 2026
Contractually, it is difficult to say whether Garcia can even fight on Netflix, given that there is one bout remaining on his deal with Golden Boy and DAZN.
According to various reports, however, there is a clause in his contract that allows the American to work with Turki Alalshikh, who is very much involved in the planned encounter between Fury and ‘AJ’.
