LOS ANGELES – As Ryan Garcia hopes for a return following his controversial clash against Devin Haney, his promoters are starting to piece the puzzle of his career back together.
Garcia is currently sidelined due to a one-year suspension after testing positive for the performance enhancing drug ostarine. Garcia knocked down Haney three times but his April 20 majority decision was changed to a no contest as a consequence of those failed tests.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) has since teased an exhibition match in Japan in December, but Golden Boy Promotions partner Bernard Hopkins is envisioning something even more significant once Garcia is sanctioned to fight again.
“I’d like to see him fight Shakur Stevenson,” Hopkins told BoxingScene. “There are no advantages. Shakur has been sitting on a pond and fishing, right? Shakur hasn’t been active, correct? There should be a healing time between now and then for Shakur, correct?”
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) last beat Artem Harutyunyan in June and was supposed to make his Matchroom Boxing promotional debut on October 12 against Joe Cordina but suffered a hand injury that resulted in surgery.
The WBC lightweight champion Stevenson is also supposed to fight the Golden Boy-promoted No. 1 challenger William Zepeda in February, but it remains to be seen if he’ll go straight into the Zepeda fight next.
Stevenson got wind of Hopkins’ comments and took to social media to offer his thoughts on the potential pitting.
“I’m kind of scheduled to beat his other fighter in February,” he wrote. “I would love that fight [against Garcia] too though.
Stevenson fights at 135 pounds while Garcia last weighed in at 143 pounds for his fight against Haney and has teased a return at 147 and even 154 pounds.
Hopkins, a Hall of Famer who ruled at middleweight and light heavyweight, said Garcia and Stevenson should figure out a comfortable catchweight, a notion both fighters have previously agreed to.
“Meet in the middle,” said Hopkins. “We’re in a different era right now. No one talks about weight right now. You’re talking about [154-pounder] Bud Crawford wanting to fight [168-pounder] Canelo Alvarez.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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