After Jake Paul’s unanimous decision over Mike Tyson earlier this month, speculation instantly turned to Paul’s next opponent. Ryan Garcia threw his hat into the ring and doubled-down on his callout Tuesday.
“It would be huge,” Garcia said during a Tuesday appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”. “I see it everywhere. Everywhere I go, people are asking me to fight Jake Paul. I’ve got to give the people what they want, that’s what I’m used to doing.”
Garcia is serving a year-long suspension after testing positive for a banned substance prior to his April fight against Devin Haney. Garcia’s New York State professional boxer license is suspended until April 20, 2025, but that’s not stopping him from attempting to get into the ring.
Garcia seemed set to fight Rukiya Anpo in an exhibition match in Tokyo on Dec. 30, but Golden Boy Promotions disputed the notion Tuesday. In a statement, it said that “Golden Boy Promotions has exclusive rights to Ryan Garcia’s fights. The organizers of this event (Garcia vs. Anpo) have acknowledged as such and have agreed in writing that our sign-off is needed for this event to occur. As no such sign-off has been given, as of today there is no event with Ryan Garcia.”
Garcia said he wanted the fight as payback for Anpo “beating up” Manny Pacquiao. (Anpo, who was 28 at the time, participated in a July exhibition boxing match against Pacquiao, 45.)
“I saw this dude way bigger than Manny Pacquiao and way younger, just beating up — well, trying to beat up — on him,” Garcia said. “Just throwing haymakers the whole fight and just being obnoxious in the ring. I was like, ‘Oh my God, dude. If they give me a chance, I’ll knock this dude out.'”
Garcia said the same logic applies to Paul, 27, who faced off against Tyson, 58.
“He was trying to beat up on Uncle Mike (Tyson),” Garcia said. “Like I said, the same way I feel about Manny Pacquiao, the same way I feel about this.”
Garcia said should they fight, he has every intention of knocking Paul out.
“If Jake fights the way he fought with Mike, I genuinely believe I would knock him out within four (or) five rounds,” Garcia said. “We said we would run it one day. He came to my gym a long time ago in Victorville, then he came to visit me with the Canelo (Alvarez) camp — this is before he boxed. So I kind of gave birth to his boxing career, so I’m here to end it. That’s it.”
Garcia has mainly fought in the lightweight (135 pounds) and super lightweight (140 pounds) divisions, while Paul weighed in at 227 pounds ahead of his bout with Tyson. Garcia said he would be willing to fight at a weight disadvantage if the two agreed to a match. He cited the June 2021 exhibition match between Logan Paul (189.5 pounds) and Floyd Mayweather (155 pounds) as an example.
This story first appeared on USA Today Sports.
