Newly crowned WBC interim champ at 135 pounds, Ryan Garcia really does want to fight everybody. From Tank Davis, to Devin Haney, to his Dream Fight – one with Manny Pacquiao, Garcia is as excited to get these fights as we fans are excited about the idea of seeing them take place. Garcia, 21-0(18) proved a whole lot on Saturday night when he got off the floor to score a sizzling body shot KO over Luke Campbell, and now the 22 year old wants the world.
And that Dream Fight.
It really would be quite something if living legend Pacquiao, who recently turned 42, fought Garcia this year. Garcia says the fight between himself and his boxing idol would be a, “passing of the torch.” Garcia, who spoke with Fight Hype a while back, said he “loves” Pacquiao, that he is “one of my inspirations.” That said, Garcia would love nothing more than to fight Pac Man and to defeat him. “I feel Manny Pacquiao needs to pass that torch to me,” Garcia said.
Pacquiao of course has a number of other big-fight options – Errol Spence, Terence Crawford, maybe even Conor McGregor still. But who knows, if Garcia was able to defeat Devin Haney and become WBC lightweight champ, maybe Pacquiao would look at taking his first fight at 135 pounds since he stopped a game David Diaz way back in 2008. As “small” as he is for the welterweight division, Manny could probably still make the weight well enough. And perhaps Pacquiao would indeed like the idea of facing off with a young gun as he closes out his own all-time great career. Pacquiao has after all surprised us with his choice of opponent a number of times.
Over the course of boxing history, guys like Larry Holmes have passed the torch to Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard passed the torch to Terry Norris, and Oscar De La Hoya passed the torch to Manny Pacquiao. Who wins if, in the late summer of 2021, Pacquiao and Garcia meet in a truly fascinating fight!
Could this fight actually happen, or is it merely a Dream Fight?
