Ryan Garcia Has Been Making All the Right Moves, But THIS PLAN Isn’t A Good One

Ryan Garcia has positioned himself as the hottest rising “attraction” in the sport, or had, before coronavirus rudely and savagely injected itself in the world’s psyche.

He went from being a prospect who drew more attention for his looks, and magnetic quality on social media, to someone who was getting props almost across the board, from even hard to please pundits.

Now, this is 2020, many people have that vested interest in being naysayers, in being eterna-critics. That’s probably because it’s easier to make noise with negativity rather than positivity.

Yes, I’ve been digging what Ryan has been doing in the ring for awhile, and in fact, was staying on board his train even as more pundits were trying to pierce him with take-downs, and he saw the need to get some more tutoring, from Eddy Reynoso. And, also, I’ve been impressed with his moves to make himself more of a transcendent attraction.

He started a marketing campaign that he must’ve snagged from Hollywood, giving out his cell phone number, and my guess is he got tens of thousands of cell numbers of fans who latched on, which his people can use for whatever purpose down the line.

His trash-talk game is rock-solid, he stirs the pot just about every day, and so he gives rooters (and haters) something to chew on even when not fighting.

Yep, I’ve been impressed, kid has been doing it right for awhile. Until now…

A portion of the chat he had with Fight Hype was a swing and a miss, for me.

The Golden Boy promoted Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) fights on DAZN and for almost six months he’s been angling for a scrap with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (23-0, 22 KOs), the PBC fighter who for years has been a Showtime fighter.

“Once they send the contract, I’m going to close my eyes and write my name down and sign it. Everyone go to Gervonta’s page and tell him to send Ryan the contract now and stop playing. Stop bullshitting. Send me the contract. I’ll sign it for everybody that is watching,” Garcia told Fight Hype.

OK, that’s fine, I actually love how he’s been trying to goad Gervonta into a scrap, and, in fact, has me buying in on the promise of “King Ry.” OK, maybe he THINKS he sees something to exploit, maybe he over estimates his skill set and underestimates Gervonta’s. But that sort of confidence is what you want from a 21 year old.

I think this fight, if and when it happens, is sure to send tons of traffic to online sports betting platforms and that both principals will lure plenty of currency.

“He’s never gonna be able to touch me,” Ryan declared, with some eff bombs thrown in to spice up the delivery. “He’s short as fuck, he needs to reach,” he went on to say. “I’m chasing him down, I got a lotta shit coming,” he said. “That’s the fight I’m lookin at right now…It might be just Gervonta Davis this year, because of coronavirus,” he continued.

He’s worried, he continued, because if he hammers Jorge Linares, smashes him out, then maybe Davis will look to avoid him. He’s oozing confidence, every pore is slathered in it….

But this, his proposal revenue generation for Garcia vs Gervonta, that concept is lacking.

“DAZN pay per view, bay-bee! The first to do it! …Let’s make some big money, $75, $80 pay-per-view on DAZN. It’s still pay-per-view, and it’s still DAZN, so let’s get it. First, you win with subscriptions, then you win with pay-per-view. And you have two of the best of both worlds. Don’t deny it. If you deny it, then you just fucked up the money. You ain’t never met anyone like me.”

It must be said, Fight Hype boss Ben Thompson, a rock-solid interrogator, maybe planted the PPV idea, when he said that he thinks a hurdle to make the fight could be Garcia fighting on DAZN, the subscription service which has been pitched as a PPV killer.

Listen, point to the kid for thinking big. But this pitch won’t get onto the runway, let alone off the runway. Why? Because my account was just debited by DAZN. $9.99 charge. Others had $20 taken out, if they weren’t grandfathered in.

DAZN, a subscription service that isn’t Netflix, with plenty of tempting fare. DAZN I get for LIVE fights…which are not occuring now. I will hang in for awhile, but how long will the masses hang in?

The crew over there cannot sub in stuff to make up for the loss of live fights, doesn’t matter what library of classics they could put on. So, when they return, they will have to come out of the gate hard, make up for lost time. And no, that doesn’t mean by trying a switch-up, away from the PPV killer model. Asking subscribers who went maybe 8 weeks or more without getting what they signed up for to pay the monthly fee AND $80 to see Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta Davis, not advisable.

Points to the kid for thinking grandly, but this idea was no knockout.