Ryan Garcia is a boxing star of the Social Media Age. He looks like he stepped out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, has 3.7 million Instagram followers, and is the star of a new YouTube show. It would be easy to dismiss the unbeaten Victorville-born fighter as a Gen Z celebrity more interested in “likes” than championship belts.
That would be a huge mistake… especially for his opponents (watch out Romero Duno). The 21-year-old lightweight blue-chipper has amassed a stellar (18-0) record (with an impressive 83% KO ratio) while becoming the new face of Golden Boy Promotions, all in a “Flash,” which also happens to be his nickname.
Tales of the Tape | Mikaela Mayer
“King Ryan” is a boxer who has smartly made himself into a brand, making the “sweet science” relevant to a new generation of fans, while forcing the sport’s old-heads to take notice. Let’s take a closer look at how he’s done it in Tales of the Tape: Ryan Garcia.
He will hang up the gloves at 26
Enjoy the young king now because he doesn’t plan to rule forever. “I think I can accomplish everything I want to by the age of 26,” Garcia revealed to DAZN News. “I want to be a film director, a designer and help kids with mental health issues. I want to create opportunities for everybody in the world that needs them. I feel like if I have the power to do that, why wouldn’t I? I want to help the world out a little bit.”
Like all good businessmen, he left the door open to any possibilities. “There’s a big chance (that I fight past 26),” Garcia said. “I’m just saying that I’ll be done at 26 right now but you never know what is going to happen.”
King Ryan has a little princess
Garcia welcomed his daughter Rylie to the world this past March. While the birth of a child is a blessing, the new doting dad candidly revealed it caught him off-guard as he was preparing for a fight against the tough Jose Lopez.
“People don’t know how much I was dealing with heading into that fight,” Garcia told DAZN News. “I don’t even know how I made it to the fight. I sparred maybe one time the entire camp. I had just found out my baby’s mother was pregnant and was dealing with a lot of distractions. I only trained to lose weight. I felt off that night, but knew I had to get through it.”
Still, like a true champ, Garcia pulled off a gritty victory with some extra motivation. “Once you start feeling your daughter grow and see the life that is in her, you want to give everything to her,” Garcia continued. “I put her as my priority. She’s a blessing and a motivator. She makes me go harder every day.”
Dream maker/Heart breaker
“The Flash” is hard to slow down both inside and outside the ring. According to the Los Angeles Times, Garcia made a teenage fan’s dream come true by accepting her homecoming invitation.
Obviously Garcia loves his fans, but his heart belongs to something else as he explains, “I do have a girlfriend, wanna know her name? BOXING GARCIA.” It’s good to be the King (Ryan).
Canelo Alvarez has become a mentor
Garcia has drawn comparisons to the original Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya, but he sees Canelo Alvarez as the guiding voice in his corner, who helped him get through some highly-publicized drama with the Hall-of-Famer’s promotions company. “He’s (Canelo) showed me a lot as a mentor,” Garcia, who also shares Alvarez’s trainer in Eddy Reynoso, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s the biggest blessing that I can have. I’m learning vicariously how to handle the attention. I take note of all that. We have a mutual respect for each other. We laugh and get along. We’re friends.”
He’s got his own show
Garcia looks like he stepped out of CW central casting and has a built-in fanbase so it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would come calling. Luckily, he didn’t have to stretch his chops in the YouTube series “On the Ropes,” where he plays Sonny Mendoza, a high school boxer balancing his academics and athletics before finding himself in the shady underground fight world.
