WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia, will fulfill his childhood dream: to face his idol Manny Pacquiao, current WBA super welterweight champion and considered, at some point, the ‘Devourer of Mexicans’. The date and venue will be announced in the next few days.
Through his social media, Garcia, one of the fighters trained by Eddy Reynoso and the ‘Canelo Team’, confirmed the fight with an image that highlighted the legend “From a dream to reality” and showed the crossing of both champions.
“A dream turned reality. It’s an honour to share the Ring with @mannypacquiao I will always respect what you did in and out the ring. Here’s to the best Man Winning.” posted Garcia on his social media.
Pacquiao has not stepped into the ring since claiming the WBA welterweight crown with a win over Keith Thurman in Las Vegas in July 2019.
The Filipino hasn’t been back in the ring since, although he has been rumoured to be involved in some big fights with Terence Crawford, Conor McGregor, and Floyd Mayweather amongst those mentioned.
The California-born Garcia holds a record of 21 wins, 18 of which were via knockout, and has never been beaten thus far. He also holds the WBC interim lightweight championship.
If he is going up in weight to face Pacquiao then it would open questions to his interim title in a division currently being topped by Gervonta Davis, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney, whilst Vasyl Lomachenko remains in the background too.
In early 2021, Garcia faced and beat Luke Campbell in Arlington, Texas, with a hook to the liver that he perfected alongside Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, his teammate and one of the references of his career.
