By CARLO ANOLIN
Whether an exhibition match or not, American boxing rising star Ryan Garcia vowed to knock out Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao in the ring.
Garcia recalled being focused on taking on Gervonta Davis first, but he cannot just ignore the chance to fight his idol and the only eight-division world boxing champion in the world.
“One of your heroes, one of the people you admire the most and they tell you that you have a chance to face him, I said let’s go for it one hundred percent,” Garcia told ESPN Deportes.
Garcia’s father, Henry, recently said the Pacquiao-Garcia clash may be staged under an exhibition match.
Though not disclosing more details, the younger Garcia reiterated his goal to take the “torch” from Pacquiao and that the fight is set to “break records.”
“But I can say this, you have two people in the ring with eight or 10-ounce gloves, no head protection, tell me if that would be an exhibition or a real one. We are two real fighters. I’m not going to throw lies, and neither is he. You can call it what you want, but it will be a fight. I will throw blows as if I wanted to knock out Pacquiao,” added the undefeated Garcia, who has 21 wins with 18 knockouts.
The 22-year-old Garcia, who captured the WBC interim lightweight title after stunning Luke Campbell, said he is willing to adjust to Pacquiao’s weight option.
Pacquiao, 42, who fights in the welterweight, was stripped of his WBA super welterweight belt Saturday and was relegated as “champion in recess” by the sanctioning body due to inactivity.
The boxer-turned-senator has not fought since beating American Keith Thurman via split decision last July 2019 en route to the title.
An ambitious Garcia said beating Davis and Pacquiao in the same year would be the “perfect 2021” for him.
“I can’t wait to see what happens, it will be beautiful and I’m excited,” added the California-native boxer.
