Artur Beterbiev just became the first undisputed light heavyweight champion since Roy Jones Jr. in 1999 after defeating former WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Now, fans are pitting him against super middleweight king Canelo Alvarez. Meanwhile, Ryan Garcia has now shared his prediction for the potential fight.

Beterbiev survived a treacherous 12 rounds against his fellow compatriot to clinch the titles via majority decision. This, in a way, suggests that Beterbiev should be able to take care of ‘Cinnamon’ as well, who was beaten by Bivol in 2022. Regardless, when Garcia suggested the opposite would happen, fans quickly came out with pitchforks. 

Is Ryan Garcia biased towards Canelo Alvarez?

A day after the fight concluded, and the dust was just starting to settle from the skirmish on Saturday night, Garcia decided to ruffle some feathers on X. He wrote, “I think Canelo beats Artur.” Now, it’s a well-known fact that Garcia and Canelo trained in the same gym during the beginning of Garcia’s career when he trained under Eddy Reynoso. 

The Victorville native has also suggested that he looks up to ‘Cinnamon’ publicly—so there could be a bit of favoritism on his part in the matter. However, at the same time, it’s not like Canelo hasn’t defeated a 175-pounder in the past. Back in November 2019, Canelo defeated former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev via an 11th-round knockout. 

While he could not replicate the results against Bivol years later, counting him out completely would be a mistake. Regardless, that’s exactly what fans on social media seem to have done while shaming Garcia for his prediction. 

Fan predicts Canelo would do against Artur Beterbiev what Garcia did against ‘Tank’

Anything Artur Beterbiev is a hot topic right now, so it barely took any effort on Garcia’s part to rile up fans. One user asked Garcia to stop making such “stupid” predictions. “Don’t be f**king stupid Ryan,” the user commented. Largely, the consensus is that Beterbiev would beat Canelo because of his incredible power.

The next user roped in Garcia’s performance against Gervonta Davis to share their prediction. “More likely, Canelo is gone hit a knee like you did with Tank after feeling that power. Shouldn’t fight Beterbiev but I will watch if he tries,” wrote the user. Notably, Davis delivered a bone-crushing left hook to Garcia’s right rib cage, which forced the Victorville native to take a knee. 

Meanwhile, this user almost seemed to have been angered by Garcia’s statement. “Worst thing you’ve ever said tbh,” the user remarked. Canelo is yet to accept fights against people in lower or the same weight class as him, Beterbiev is a far-fetched dream. 

Someone else felt if Canelo and Beterbiev did end up fighting, it would be the same as one of Canelo’s prior showdowns. “It’d be like GGG Canelo 1,” commented the user. When Canelo first fought Gennady Golovkin, the fight ended with a split decision draw. 

Another user refused to believe Beterbiev won the fight against Bivol. “Bivol won that fight,” the user commented. The good news for this user is both Bivol and Beterbiev are open to a rematch, so Bivol could avenge his loss. 

It appears despite Canelo’s success in the sport, most people don’t think he will survive against Artur Beterbiev. It makes sense, given he recently defeated the guy who defeated Canelo, but the question is, will Canelo even contemplate coming to 175 pounds again?