Most of the boxing world thinks the idea of young 22-year-old lightweight star Ryan Garcia taking on 42-year-old welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is an absurd notion.
Garcia would have to jump up to 147 pounds from 135 pounds and he would be in against one of the greatest and experienced boxing legends of all time. Fans on social media think Garcia would get knocked out and humiliated by Pacquiao and think he is just calling out the Filipino boxing icon for publicity.
Irish boxing star and two-division world champion Carl Frampton has the opposite view of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ryan Garcia fight, he thinks it would be a huge bout and he likes the idea of it.
Frampton thinks the fight is risky because Luke Campbell was able to drop him and he isn’t the same caliber puncher that Pacquiao is.
“Ryan Garcia posted on his Instagram that potentially there is a fight with Manny Pacquiao is on the horizon,” Frampton said on a video from his official YouTube channel. “This is massive. If this fight gets made, you have to give Ryan Garcia credit. It’s a brave fight to take because Manny Pacquiao although he is not the fighter he once was, if Luke Campbell can drop Ryan Garcia, Manny Pacquiao can knock him out. This is a risky fight.
Frampton feels a win over the Filipino superstar would catapult Garcia to the number two draw in boxing just under Mexican star Canelo Alvarez.
“If Ryan Garcia goes to that level and beats a hero of mine and absolute superstar in Manny Pacquiao, he puts himself with Canelo Alvarez who is the number one fighter on the planet in terms of being the boxing superstar, just the top guy in boxing, he is Pay-Per-View, and Ryan Garcia would be number two. If he beats Manny Pacquiao he becomes number two in Pay-Per-View terms ahead of [Tyson] Fury, ahead of AJ [Anthony Joshua], ahead of everybody accept Canelo.
Frampton believes if Garcia defeats Pacquiao his win would eclipse the other young undefeated lightweights wins on their resumes. He also feels should Garcia lose it wouldn’t really hurt his stock because he is taking on a legend and gives credit to the UFC because when a fighter loses in MMA they are not completely written off and can still draw fans and wishes boxing could be more like that.
“This is an extremely risky fight,” Frampton reiterated. “If he goes and beats Manny Pacquiao, which he could very well do, it’s amazing. It’s a better win than [Devin] Haney’s had, a better win than [Gervonta Davis] Tank’s had, is it a better win than Teofimo Lopez against Lomachenko? I’m not sure. It’s a huge statement if he goes and wins, but there’s that chance he could get chinned and the bubble bursts a bit. He is still fighting a credible opponent. I think we have to give him credit and this is something boxing can take a leaf out of MMA and the UFC’s book, top guys fight the top guys and sometimes they lose but it doesn’t matter they still get on the Pay-Per-View platform, they still get involved with big fights as long as you give it your all.
While most of the boxing world think the fight is a mismatch, Frampton is excited just thinking about the possibility and gives credit to both guys if the fight happens.
“I think if this fight comes to fruition we have to give Ryan Garcia so much credit. It’s an absolutely huge fight. I hope it does come off, I’ll be extremely excited for this. That’s one of them fights where you don’t really know who is going to win it and that’s what makes it exciting. Credit where it’s due to both guys, Pacquiao at his age fighting a young up and coming kid but especially to Ryan Garcia, he is only a baby he could be Pacquiao’s son, this is a huge fight,” said Frampton.
