Fresh off winning his first major world title, the WBC welterweight belt, Ryan Garcia believes he finally has everything he needs to become the face of boxing, but he’s not ready to claim that lofty title just yet.
Garcia appeared on ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith this week to talk about his future, potential fights with Conor Benn and Devin Haney, and what winning a world championship means for his ambitions.
When Smith asked whether Garcia still sees himself as someone capable of being sweet science’s public ambassador despite fighting just three times in the past three years, Garcia pointed to the belt as the missing piece.
“Well, you know, now that I’m a world champion and I have the belt, I feel like I’ve always had the following and all the opportunities you can have as a superstar,” Garcia said. “Now that I have this piece that I was kind of missing, of course I would love to keep fighting, carry boxing, and lead this generation of young fighters in popularity and now as a world champion.”
He was quick to add that talk is cheap from here. “I have all the opportunities to become the face of boxing, but now I just have to prove it with my dedication and all the fights that are going to be lined up. I have to do it now.”
In 2024 Garcia has tested positive for osterine, a banned performance enhancing substance and was subsequently banned from competition. Shortly after his PED suspension, Garcia sparked major outrage during a livestream on X where he used racial slurs against Black people and made disparaging comments about Muslims and other groups. He was reinstated by the WBC in November of 2025.
During the interview, Garcia also confirmed interest in a title defense against Benn and called a Haney rematch “the only fight that would make sense” after that.
On his 2023 loss to Gervonta Davis, Garcia pushed back on any narrative that it defined him, arguing he took the fight when other top fighters were ducking big matchups to protect their records. Garcia said a rematch with Davis would only happen on “even terms” now that he’s champion.
He didn’t exactly extend a friendly offer to Davis. “I’m a world champion now. What has he been doing? Why are we talking about him? He hasn’t been doing nothing.”
