Most of the boxing talk for this weekend revolves around the highly anticipated light heavyweight championship bout between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and WBO champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev on November 2.
Canelo vs. Kovalev might be the main event Saturday night, but the Ryan Garcia vs. Romero Duno lightweight fight on the undercard could steal the show.
Ryan Garcia (18-0, 15 KOs) is the undefeated prospect from Victorville, California and he already amasses a large social media following of mostly teen girls who adore him as if he were a matinee idol.
Much like his promoter Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia has the good looks and style that attract young women and he can fight too.
The question is will he be as good as the Golden Boy or will he be exposed as just another pretty face who fell short when it counted the most?
Garcia has improved drastically under the guidance of Eddy Reynoso who is best known as the head trainer of Canelo Alvarez.
With Reynoso and the support of a superstar like Canelo, the 21-year-old prospect’s confidence is through the roof.
It seemed in every fight Garcia wanted to win by KO and would leave himself open to get hit. Reynoso taught him that you can’t force a KO and must be patient to find openings and counters. The advice paid off because he showed improved defense, and timing in his last two fights, and he knocked both guys out.
People wrote him off as a hype job but he refuses to let those detractors bring him down and to show that he is the real deal he called out a very dangerous opponent in Filipino slugger Romero Duno.
Duno (21-1, 15 KOs) is a 24-year-old from Cotabato City, Maguindanao, Philippines and ever since signing with Golden Boy Promotions he has put on action packed fights.
In his very first fight on US soil, Duno knocked out the highly touted prospect Christian Gonzalez in round 2, it was an upset that nobody saw coming.
Duno accepted the challenge by Garcia and looks at this opportunity as another upset in the making. This will be the biggest stage of the Filipino’s career and he will make the most of it.
Garcia-Duno is one of those match-ups between two hungry young prospects on the verge of contender status, eager to make a name for themselves.
Duno will bring the fight and Garcia will try to use his height and reach to pick his shots. Both boxers have knockout power so the fight could turn into a real back and forth slug fest.
The lightweight showdown could end in a knockout. With the way both fighters go toe to toe it could be a short night or an action packed distance fight.
This another can’t miss fight that promises to bring the fireworks.
Erwin Lastimosa is a long time boxing fan and enjoys boxing discussion with his peers. Some of his favorite fighters are Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Muhammad Ali, Flash Elorde, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.