Ryan Garcia fights Luke Campbell January 2

On January 2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17KOs) and Luke Campbell (20-3, 16KOs) will square off for the WBC Interim Lightweight Title in front of a live crowd.

The fight will be televised on DAZN and it will be promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Matchroom Boxing. This will mark the first time that Garcia and Campbell have fought since the COVID-19 crisis began, and Garcia will be facing by far the toughest opponent of his young professional career.

Few expected Garcia to face a veteran southpaw with world championship level experience at this point in his 20-fight career, but Garcia demanded such a lofty challenge.

A win against Campbell is necessary for Garcia to maintain his pride and popularity among the young lightweight superstars, especially since Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12KOs) earned a monumental decision victory over Vasyl Lomachenko (14-2, 10KOs) for the undisputed lightweight championship of the world.

Campbell has already fought for the lightweight world title twice, both times going the distance and demonstrating to the boxing world that he has potential at the championship level.

In his title fights against Jorge Linares and Lomachenko, he surpassed expectations. While Campbell will be coming off a decision loss against Lomachenko, Garcia’s last performance ended in a sensational first-round KO victory from a counter left hook that floored Francisco Fonseca.

Garcia’s emotions were sky high after the win, and he is extremely confident that he can replicate that sort of success against Campbell. Few expect Garcia to be able to defeat Campbell in the same fashion that he beat Fonseca, but Garcia will be the slight betting favorite on fight-night.

Garcia likes to keep opponents at a distance in order to catch them at the end of his punches, but the strategy may be more difficult to pull off against Campbell, who has a 1” reach advantage.

It would surprise many fans if Garcia is able to knock out Campbell, as Campbell was not stopped by either Linares or Lomachenko. Both Linares and Lomachenko have scored several knockout victories against respectable lightweight opposition. Garcia vs. Campbell is an exciting match that will show whether Campbell has realized his potential or that Garcia’s incredible popularity is deserved.