Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez are being linked to a showdown in the near future, and two-time ruler of the division, Shawn Porter, has cast his prediction for the much-rumoured match-up.
‘King Ry’ successfully defended his WBC welterweight title for the first time when he halted Conor Benn inside two rounds last month, before calling for a unification with WBA titlist Lopez during the aftermath.
The WBA have since declared that Lopez must defend their ‘Super’ welterweight belt against Jack Catterall in order to avoid being stripped of the crown, seemingly ending hopes of a title unification against Garcia any time soon.
Still, that has not caused whispers of Garcia-Lopez to stop, with ‘The Takeover’ instead understood to be considering vacating his strap and opting against a bout with Catterall, in favour of a lucrative opportunity to dethrone one of boxing’s biggest superstars.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Porter looked ahead to the possible Garcia vs. Lopez fight and admitted that he sees ‘King Ry’ as the very slight favourite.
“I think that Ryan Garcia beats Teofimo Lopez. Teo is good, but Teo sits back on the back foot. Ryan is a great lead-off hitter, bringing that right-hand right behind it. He is swinging the left early and often. I don’t know man, Teo is going to have to have some tricks and I haven seen tricks from Teo in a long time.
“It’s too early to tell, you want to say 50/50 but right now, today, I would say it’s 55/45 in favour of Ryan Garcia.”
Garcia currently has one fight left on his Golden Boy contract, but he has also been mentioned for a shocking clash with 49-year-old Floyd Mayweather.
