By: Hans Themistode
Ryan Garcia seemingly has it all. Tons of money in his bank account, endless knockout highlight reels and most importantly millions upon millions of followers on his social media accounts. That all sounds good and well, but to former multiple division world champion Jorge Linares, it doesn’t exactly excite him.
“[Garcia] is a good prospect but, you never know in boxing, here today and gone tomorrow,” Linares said in an interview conducted by Nick Libonati and filmed by New Fly Films’ Stefan Newman. “But if he wants to fight me, he needs to first get one of these belts. If he truly wants to fight me, first he needs to win a world title.”
Even without a world title, both Linares and Garcia were on track for a July showdown. Those plans were obviously scrapped when COVID-19 decided to run a muck across the entire world. Stopping every sporting event in its track.
At the age of 21, Garcia has accomplished a lot for himself. He currently holds the WBC Silver Lightweight title. He also has a top three ranking in three of the four sanctioning bodies. Number two in both the WBO and WBA and number three in the WBC. Impressive to most, but to Linares he simply rolls his eyes and yawns.
“At 21, I was crowned World Champion in Las Vegas,” notes Linares. “I beat a great World Champion boxer, Oscar Larios and after that I was World Champion 3 more times. Despite some defeats I got up again and again. You achieved a world title at 21? RG?”
A matchup between the two seemed to be all but done before the sports world shutdown. But now, Linares doesn’t seem as interested in a possible showdown. Unless of course, Garcia grabs a world title.
“I’m a four-time world champion in three different weight divisions. He’s the internet champion,” insists Linares. “He’s still a long way from winning one of these. But in the event that he wins one of these belts, now we’re talking. Let’s call our promoter and we can do that fight.”