Ryan Garcia is targeting just one fighter in particular after he faces Mario Barrios in Las Vegas next weekend.
The 27-year-old from California is set to challenge Barrios for the WBC world welterweight title at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday February 21.
It will be Garcia’s first ring appearance since he suffered a shock unanimous decision defeat to WBA welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero last May in what was the second loss of his career.
Whilst he appears to have been focused in the lead-up to his world title showdown with Barrios, ‘King Ry’ looks to have his eyes on a future clash with one fighter in particular.
In an interview with The Ring Magazine, Garcia revealed that he wants to face four-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson following his clash with Barrios next Saturday night.
“I really want to fight Shakur. No I know, that’s [Haney fight] always going to be there though, but that’s who I want to fight. I want to go from Barrios to Shakur, yeah. At [144lbs], I’ll make a whole division called 44, me and Shakur. He said he’d do it. And I know he’s confident so let’s run it.”
Stevenson entered the boxing history books last month when he defeated countryman Teofimo Lopez via unanimous decision to capture the WBO super-lightweight title and becoming the youngest four-division champion since Oscar De La Hoya.
The 28-year-old from Newark has already been linked with a number of high-profile names including Britain’s Conor Benn, who stormed the ring just moments after the America was declared the winner over Lopez on January 31.
