BUDDING young star Ryan Garcia claims that he will be the next opponent of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.
Garcia, the interim World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion, posted on his official Instagram account a fight poster of him and Pacquiao.
“A dream turned reality. It’s an honor to share the ring with Manny Pacquiao. I will always respect what you did in and out of the ring. Here’s to the best man winning,” Garcia wrote on Instagram, tagging Manny Pacquiao’s official account.
The 22-year-old Garcia, who’s being groomed by Oscar dela Hoya to become boxing’s next superstar, is just fresh from a seventh round technical knockout of Luke Campbell on Jan. 2, 2021. Garcia was dropped by Campbell in the second round but came back to knock out the Brit with a body shot in the seventh.
Garcia is currently campaigning at the lightweight division and would most likely move up to the welterweight division or maybe fight at a catchweight to face the 42-year-old Pacquiao.
Pacquiao last saw action on July 20, 2019, wherein he walked away with a split decision win over Keith Thurman.
Pacquiao was currently in negotiations for a boxing match with MMA star Conor McGregor. But the fight lost its luster after McGregor was knocked out by Dustin Poirier in their rematch in UFC 257 on Jan. 24, 2021 (PH time) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Pacquiao was closely monitoring the McGregor vs. Poirier fight. “Good luck tonight, Conor! Let’s make 2021 the best year ever for fight fans,” Pacquiao tweeted before the fight.
Pacquiao later on congratulated Poirier on Twitter for beating McGregor. “Beautiful thing about the fight game, anything can happen! Congrats, Dustin Poirier. Huge win!”
Pacquiao is 62-7-2 with 39 knockouts, while Garcia is 21-0 with 18 knockouts.
If Garcia is indeed fighting Pacquiao, this will be the biggest fight of his career. He could possibly send a living legend into retirement or lose the hype that has always been with him his whole career. (EKA)