FIGHT WEEK
Rising star Ryan Garcia faces his first significant test against Olympic champion Luke Campbell.
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RYAN GARCIA (20-0, 17 KOs)
VS. LUKE CAMPBELL (20-3, 16 KOs)
- When: Saturday, Jan. 2
- Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Lightweight
- At stake: WBC “Interim” title
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: 3-1 (BetMGM)
- Also on the card: Felix Alvarado vs. DeeJay Kriel, junior flyweights (for Alvarado’s title); Rene Alvarado vs. Roger Gutierrez, junior lightweights; Franchon Crews Dezurn vs. Ashleigh Curry, super middleweights
- Prediction: Garcia UD
- Background: Garcia is popular on social media, with some 7.8 million followers on Instagram. And he’s on a roll. He has recorded knockouts in each of his last four fights, the last two in the first round. Indeed, if anyone has star power, it appears to be the product of Los Angeles. The problem is that Garcia has never been tested by a top-tier opponent, which is necessary to gauge how good he is. That’s where Luke Campbell comes in. The 2012 Olympian and two-time title challenger fits the bill. If Garcia can beat Campbell — particularly if he can do it more easily than Jorge Linares and Vasiliy Lomachenko did — he will have arrived as a legitimate candidate to become a face of the sport. If he loses, well, he will have been more hype than substance. Meanwhile, this is a big opportunity for Campbell. The 33-year-old pride of Hull, England, is loaded with ability. He simply hasn’t been able to get over the hump. If he has his hand raised, he’ll be in prime position to get another shot at a world title.
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OTHER SIGNIFICANT MATCHUPS
Thursday, Dec. 31
- Kazuto Ioka (25-2, 14 KOs) vs. Kosei Tanaka (15-0, 9 KOs), 12 rounds, junior bantamweights, Tokyo. Ioka will be making the second defense of his 115-pound title against one of his most-gifted countrymen. Tanaka, 25, has already won titles in three divisions. A victory on Thursday would give him four. The fight is not on TV in the U.S.
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