Lightweight star Ryan Garcia has come across some harsh criticism, after his long lay-off from the ongoing title race. It has been a crucial year for the 135 lbs division, which saw some pretty intense title fights throughout the calendar. Meanwhile, Garcia had begun this year’s action by stopping Luke Campbell in January for the WBC Interim belt.

‘KingRy’ targeted several title bouts after that but ended up going on a brief hiatus. Meanwhile, WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, one of Garcia’s contemporaries, ridiculed the ex-Interim champion for being dropped by Campbell in the fight. Davis and his mentor Floyd Mayweather also bashed Garcia for being inactive since facing Campbell.

Although Garcia hasn’t announced his comeback fight, he still took time to respond to his critics. That said, Ryan Garcia’s message was specially directed towards Gervonta Davis and Floyd Mayweather.

Referring to the knockdown against Luke Campbell, Garcia said, “Are you gonna get on Floyd [Mayweather] for getting dropped by Zab Judah? Which he did get dropped with a check hook. Will you get on him about that? No, because he got back up and he knocked him out. What are you trying to say? People get dropped all the time, even in street fights.”

Back in 2006, Mayweather embraced one of the toughest tests of his career when he faced Zab Judah for the welterweight world title. Despite winning the fight, Mayweather was floored by Judah at one point.

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While several people saw it as a flaw in TBE’s game, Mayweather still found ways to win. The same happened in Garcia vs Campbell, where ‘KingRy’ rose from adversary to TKO Campbell after a brief period of a lightweight slugfest.

Can Ryan Garcia silence his doubters inside the ring?

In an active career of 21-0, Ryan Garcia currently has 18 KOs in his favor. That said, his stellar lightweight run has seen A-listers like Campbell, Fonseca, and Carlos Morales fall victim to the youngster’s in-ring prowess. Although the division can offer way better challenges, Garcia has already proved his worth as a top-tier contender.

But he seems far from a world title shot. As the lightweight division is moving rapidly, seeing some prominent changes in recent times, Ryan Garcia needs to return quickly. 2022 can be an important year for the division, and Garcia shall play a major role in it.

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