Ryan Garcia Confirms One Fight Left With Golden Boy

“I’m going to do my thing. At least Oscar finally admitted it,” said Ryan to Fighthype.

Ryan’s final fight will be against Conor Benn on September 12th, and it’s one that could end in disaster for Ryan if he performs as he did in his loss to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. Losing to Benn would knock a lot of leverage off his value. Still, Ryan holds one major asset that few fighters possess, which is pure commercial star power. Even after setbacks, his massive fan base and social media presence guarantee built-in pay-per-view buys. Outfits like Zuffa will always want a piece of that attraction regardless of a title, though a loss would force him to accept far less money than he expects as a champion.

Getting stopped by Benn would actually validate Garcia’s decision to leave traditional promoters. Under a standard promotional deal, losing to a high-pressure puncher severely damages his value to the promoter, who then turns focus to other assets.

Running his own company allows Ryan to carefully control his match-making, protect his brand, and rebuild his momentum without answering to an outside promoter pushing him into stylistic nightmares.

A disastrous night against Benn destroys his case as a top pound-for-pound fighter, but his underlying box-office value keeps him from ever truly going broke in the current fight market. If Ryan chooses to promote himself, he can pick and choose his opponents and ensure that he doesn’t lose again.