Ryan Garcia Says Titles Don’t Matter: ‘I Wear This Belt Because It Looks Good’

Interim WBC lightweight champion Ryan Garcia says titles do matter out and claims he only wears the belt he won against Luke Campbell earlier this month “because it looks good”.

Garcia survived a heavy early knockdown before ultimately stopping the Olympic gold medallist inside seven rounds on January 3. The win makes ‘King’ the mandatory challenger for WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.

Somewhat surprisingly, Garcia is not interested in fighting Haney next for the chance to become a real-world champion. He’s not really interested in facing WBA, WBO, IBF and WBC Franchise champion Teofimo Lopez.

Garcia is instead eyeing up an exhibition bout against boxing legend Manny Pacquaio. He has previously talked up a fight with Gervonta Davis.

“I’m trying to figure out my next move and where to place this king piece [with the interim WBC interim lightweight title],” Garcia told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

The 22-year-old notes Lopez is a talented boxer but Garcia is not necessarily impressed by the collection of belts Teofimo holds.

“I’m not naive to say that he doesn’t matter. Of course, Teofimo matters,” Garcia said. “What doesn’t matter is belts. I wear this belt because it looks good. Doesn’t it look good? It does make me look good. The truth is, there’s too many belts, there are too many champions. You don’t know who the true champion is. If Teofimo wants to hold that crown the way he wants to hold it, that’s fine.”

“I know the truth. The truth is, you’re not the champ until you beat the toughest people in the division,” Garcia added. “You give what the people want. I’m trying to be the people’s champ. I’m taking on the best fighters as soon as possible because that’s what I stand for. And I’m always going to stand for that. If people want to say, ‘Oh, he got this and that.’ That’s fine, the truth always comes out. The world will see who the better fighter is the more we fight.” (Transcribed by Boxing Scene)

Do you agree with Ryan Garcia? Do belts no longer hold the value they once did?