Ryan Garcia, who has risen to prominence in the sport of boxing, has questioned the authenticity of world title belts. The 23-year-old has recently stepped up to the 140-pound weight class, where he fought Javier Fortuna in six rounds.
‘KingRy’ has indicated a desire to compete against Gervonta Davis in his upcoming match.
Ryan Garcia stated on The DAZN Boxing Show in preparation for his fight against Javier Fortuna:
“You guys put so much emphasis on these belts. Let them go, they don’t mean s***. Belts don’t mean s*** nowadays. If I beat Devin [Haney], they’ll say now go fight Tank [Gervonta Davis]. But if I beat Tank, they can’t say s***.”
Meanwhile, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza spoke on The DAZN Boxing Show and addressed Garcia’s remarks. He gave the young boxer the benefit of the doubt, claiming that the “loud comments” were a result of the stress of fight week:
“My belt is a 100 years old, no matter what. I understand Ryan. I understand that he’s at the top of the game, I think he’s very positive for the sport. But not every boxer is like him. A boxer needs belts at the end of the day, unfortunately I think he got caught up in the moment.”
He added:
“If he wants to prove himself in this current boxing atmosphere, he needs to win the four belts not only at lightweight, but at 140 [pounds] and 147 [pounds], which I think he has a lot of potential to do.”
Most fighters’ ultimate goal and objective in the combat scene is to become a world champion. This is owing to the groups who control the belts’ history and status.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza emphasised this when speaking about Garcia’s career. Mendoza stated during The DAZN Boxing Show:
“He’s young, he gets a lot of attention because he doesn’t have a belt, but at the end of the day if he wants to write his name in the history books, that legacy cannot continue to happen if he doesn’t have four belts.”
Ryan Garcia has yet to challenge for a world title, and his prior weight division was notoriously difficult to win a world title in. He is presently fighting in the super-lightweight division, where Josh Taylor currently has all of the belts.
Ultimately, if Garcia is going to take hold of all four belts in his division, he must work his way to a title challenge against Scotland’s Josh Taylor.
