Ryan Garcia’s Bitter Dream in Danger After Errol Spence Jr.’s Sudden Announcement

Last week, when asked about his next fight while he was having a whale of a time at the newly crowned IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia‘s dressing room, Ryan Garcia replied, “Errol Spence Jr.” Fighting on the Tyson Fury–Oleksandr Usyk undercard, the Sydney-born southpaw had become a world champion for the second time. But, going by the latest news, it seems the young boxer’s dream of fighting the former unified welterweight champion runs a high risk of remaining unfulfilled.

Reportedly, Errol Spence Jr. and WBC and WBO light middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora have inked a deal for an October fight. So far, so good, but how’s that connected with a Garcia fight? The trouble is, a separate tweet featuring a message from the former unified welterweight champion could mean a meeting with ‘KingRy’ may never come about. Both Garcia and Fundora registered victories this year. Though subsequently in trouble over failing to clear doping tests, the former had beaten Devin Haney on April 20 by a majority decision. Sebastian Fundora, on the other hand, became a first-time world champion with a split decision victory over Tim Tszyu.

The Intrigue Grows

The message from ESPN‘s Mike Coppinger read, “Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence Jr. have agreed to a deal for a WBC junior middleweight title fight in October in Dallas, sources told ESPN.” The report further added that PBC has the hope of staging the year’s next PPV show at the AT&T Stadium. Their first event with Amazon Prime on March 30 witnessed Fundora’s triumph.

However, it is subject to the final date of the fight blending in with the home team, the Dallas Cowboys‘ schedule. But sometime later, a tweet from talkSPORT‘s Michael Benson followed.

It mentioned, “Errol Spence appearing to indicate that he could retire from boxing after his reported next fight vs. Sebastian Fundora in October…” The tweet featured a screenshot of a message from Errol Spence Jr.: “Might be last time you see me.” It seems the post has been deleted.

From Tim Tszyu to Errol Spence Jr., Sebastian Fundora must be counting his stars. But what happens to the Garcia-Spence Jr. fight? If at all it stands a chance of taking place?

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Ryan Garcia: From Chums to Foes, A Future Clash in Limbo 

There was a time when Spence Jr. and ‘KingRy’ were on friendly terms. The two had even placed bets against each other over Rolando Romero as he went to fight Gervonta Davis (now Abdul Wahid). Only last year, Ryan joined Derrick James‘ stable. He was elated and thanked ‘The Truth’ for allowing him to join the squad. But jinxes are never too far away and so, the situation changed after his latest victory over Devin Haney. The relationship between Derrick James and Errol Spence Jr. had soured, especially after the latter’s loss to Terence Crawford. The eventual separation saw both file lawsuits against each other.

The episode saw Ryan Garcia post a message on social media against Errol Spence Jr. for non-payment of dues. Thereafter, a back-and-forth ensued between the two. Errol Spence Jr. wrote, “I’ll legit beat his a** at the AT&T Stadium at 154lbs-160lbs off the strength of him testing positive, but I don’t take tune-ups.” In turn, ‘KingRy’ replied, “Please, let’s run it. I will gladly destroy you and finish the job. Crawford almost did. I will finish the job.” Early this month, an Instagram post from Garcia displayed him standing opposite Spence Jr. His message read, “It’s on @errolspencejr. Official offer been sent. You got 72 hours to respond.”

However, as it has turned out, the former welterweight champion has decided to climb up a division to seek a world championship one last time if his retirement hints turn out to be true. No doubt, a fight between Garcia and Spence Jr. would have made an excellent headliner. But given the current landscape, its future now hangs in balance. Fans can only hope that the New York-born southpaw stays with the sport. They would love watching him in a rematch with ‘Bud’ Crawford. The fight with Ryan Garcia thereafter will be the cherry on top.

What’s your take on the Fundora-Spence Jr. matchup? Please share your views with us in the comments below.