Ryan Garcia’s dad says Jorge Linares fight is BACKWARDS step

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones

Ryan Garcia’s dad Henry is sounding negative all of a sudden on a fight between young Ryan and Jorge Linares. Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya wants to set up a fight between the two lightweights for July at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

It’s now looking like the Garcia’s might be getting cold feet about fighting the former three-division world champion Linares. Ryan’s dad, Henry Garcia, is saying that a fight against the 34-year-old Linares (47-5 29 KOs) is a “BACKWARDS” step due to him being older than the fighters than Ryan has been facing.

Ryan’s dad calling Linares a ‘backwards’ step

“Linares, we’re still negotiating on that,” said Linares’s dad to Fighthype. “It could happen but the age too. Ryan is fighting guys right now that are in their prime. They’re 22, 23 and 25. So if we go back to 36, then we’re going backwards, and Ryan doesn’t like to go backwards. But then again, we’ll see. Not a done deal and not 100%.”

Henry Garcia says Ryan has been fighting guys in the prime of their career in their early 20s, and if he starts fighting guys that are 36, that would be a backwards move. He says Ryan doesn’t like going backwards.

Linares is a huge upgrade from the lesser fighters that Golden Boy Promotions has been matching Ryan against.

Ryan’s last six opponents:

Francisco Fonseca
Romero Duno
Jose Lopez
Braulio Rodriguez
Carlos Morales
Jayson Velez

None of those fighters would last more than five or six rounds against Linares if that. If Henry doesn’t view Linares as an upgrade over the fighters that Golden Boy has been putting Ryan in with, then that’s troubling. He should recognize now a trend in the type of opposition that Ryan has been matched against as a pro.

Young Ryan is clearly being fed soft, record-padding opponents, and there’s nothing wrong with that. All young fighters get fed weak opposition to help them learn and impress the casual boxing fans that don’t know better.

Linares could destroy Ryan Garcia’s career

Garcia has done a lot of mouthing off about how he wants to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, and that’s fine too. But if Ryan isn’t willing to test himself against quality fighters like Linares before he faces Tank Davis, then it’s hard to take him seriously.News:Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia looking fast and powerful

It just looks like Ryan is being built up for a big fight that makes a lot of money, but he’ll lose badly due to his lack of preparation. Linares is a serious threat to Ryan and his future dreams, and perhaps they’re recognizing that now.

If Ryan suffers an embarrassing knockout loss like the one his former opponent Carlos Morales took against Linares, then it could be game over for him. The boxing public won’t take Ryan serious again, and he’ll be written off like Deontay Wilder is since he was exposed by Tyson Fury.

Most people would disagree with Ryan’s dad about Linares being a backwards step for him. Linares is clearly older than the fighters ‘Kingry’ Garcia has been fighting lately, but he’s far more talented fighter. There’s no gain in Ryan fighting opposition that are in their early to mid-20s if they’re mediocre, and will never win a world title.News:Golden Boy signs Felix Alvarado

Linares has captured 3 division world titles during his career, and he recently wiped out a fighter that Ryan arguably lost to in Carlos Morales. You have to wonder if Linares’ performance against Morales might be scaring away Ryan and his dad Henry because he doesn’t look like he’s near ready to take on an experienced fighter like him.