Ryan Garcia has thrown out the bait and is ready to pounce. But no one is biting. The Victorville native defeated Mario Barrios last month to become the WBC welterweight champion. He was hoping to stage a rematch fight against rival WBO title holder Devin Haney, but ‘The Dream’ has since backed out, demanding ‘King Ry’ sign up for 365-day VADA testing. Unfortunately for Garcia, he didn’t go alone.

Haney is in talks to face Rolando Romero, who defeated Garcia last year in May. Meaning even that rematch is gone. IBF champion Lewis Crocker is injured. So, ‘The Flash’ called out Shakur Stevenson for a fight, but ‘Sugar’ wants a rehydration clause to fight at 147. Meanwhile, Garcia has dismissed a match-up against Keyshawn Davis. Now, no one’s left for Garcia to face, so he accused them of ducking while calling out a new opponent. 

Who is the only one left for Ryan Garcia? 

“Well, I don’t have really many options,” Ryan Garcia said during a livestream with Neon on Kick. “Devin Haney ducked me. He ducked me. Shakur just ducked me. So, I got one option—[Teofimo Lopez]. But Teofimo, I mean, for him to come to 47 is gonna be hard for him. But he said he’s down.”

Teofimo Lopez is coming off a loss to Stevenson in January, where he lost his super lightweight belt and suffered his second career defeat. Even though going into the fight, it was seen as a 50-50 matchup, the Newark native utterly dominated ‘The Takeover’ over 12 rounds. He has since claimed that he would move to welterweight, pursuing a belt in a third weight class. 

After the loss, there were some calls for Lopez to replace his father as the head trainer. However, the two-division champion hasn’t taken that step, yet he intends to overhaul his support team. Whether that helps him or not is yet to be seen, but he was present at the Garcia-Barrios fight, assessing fighters in the division he intends to invade. 

It’s also worth noting that Lopez was previously in conversation to face Devin Haney, but withdrew from the bout and settled on Stevenson instead. Despite clarity on intentions, his next steps remain uncertain. In the meantime, if Ryan Garcia looks away from big-money fights for a moment, he does have another option available. 

Alexis Rocha was impressed, but promised a beating to ‘King Ry’

Following his win over Joseph Diaz Jr., 26-2-1 Alexis Rocha reflected on Garcia’s victory against Mario Barrios while keeping his competitive edge.

“I was impressed with Ryan’s performance against Mario Barrios,” Rocha said. “Ryan looked really good in there. I thought Barrios looked drained, but Ryan capitalized on that.

Despite the praise, Rocha didn’t hold back when discussing a potential clash.

“I’ll put a beating on Ryan if we fight. I’m confident,” he added. “That’s a fight that I want, a good fight for me, and God willing, it happens.”

Rocha is aiming to climb the welterweight ranks and secure a defining opportunity against one of boxing’s biggest names. But as of the time of writing, Rocha is nowhere in any of the sanctioning bodies’ top 15 rankings. 

It’s also worth noting that Arnold Barboza has also called out the Victorville native for a fight. And Barboza is Garcia’s promotional mate and is ranked No. 9 by the WBC, so if Garcia really wanted, he could get the fight. 

Having suffered two losses already, Ryan Garcia appears to be gunning for only the biggest fights possible. Losing further fights against unranked and non-title holders can only degrade his image and pulling power. So, who do you think he should fight next? Will Lopez accept?