Avila Perspective, Chap. 194: Garcia-Fortuna, Barboza-Zorrilla and More 

Avila Perspective, Chap. 194: Garcia-Fortuna, Barboza-Zorrilla and More

Every star in prizefighting has experienced the day of reckoning when they either pass or fail.

That day of reckoning has arrived for Ryan “KingRy” Garcia and Arnold Barboza a pair of So Cal fighters who fight in back-to-back days on separate fight cards in Southern California.

Garcia has been called the second coming of the Golden Boy with his Hollywood movie star looks and flashing fists. Millions of dollars have been spent on building a foundation for the Victorville, California fighter whose appeal on social media can be proven numerically.

Can he fight?

Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) meets a dangerous test when he fights Javier Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs) in the main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 16. The Golden Boy Promotions card will be streamed by DAZN.

“I am destroying Fortuna. He cannot beat me. I am levels above him,” Garcia says.

Few question Garcia’s fighting tools. The tall lightweight prizefighter has tremendous hand speed, shocking one-punch power and the ability to magnetize an audience whenever he enters the prize ring. Plus, he can talk a bit.

The one real question is can he take a punch from a puncher like Fortuna?

Fortuna has rendered unconscious 26 foes out of the 41 opponents he’s faced in his career. He’s also a two-time former world titlist.

Golden Boy Promotions signed Garcia to a lucrative deal that will only get bigger if he continues to win. The moment of truth has arrived for KingRy and should he emerge the winner as expected, a showdown with burgeoning mega star Gervonta “Tank” Davis awaits him.

In the recent past, fights between Golden Boy who are committed to DAZN and fighters like Davis who are committed to Showtime or Fox have not been allowed to fight each other. In this instance, Tank Davis has openly demanded this fight. Garcia as well.

A fight between Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia has mega fight written all over it.

Garcia has to win on Saturday to even be considered as Davis’s next foe. No sense wasting time on Golden Boy Promotions end.

Fortuna sees an opening because Garcia’s peering ahead.

“I see that he is very focused on another fight instead of focusing on the fight he has this Saturday. And we hope that after I beat him on Saturday, he doesn’t have any excuses,” said Fortuna.

Garcia admits to looking ahead only because that’s his goal. But he knows a win over Fortuna opens that door.

“What I do know is I want Gervonta Davis next,” said Garcia. “We want that fight. Whoever wins that fight becomes the face of boxing.”

He’s got a point.

Also on the card are Alexis Rocha, Lamont Roach Jr. and flyweight contender Ricardo Sandoval. Doors open at 2 p.m.

Top Rank in Temecula on Friday

About 70 miles south of L.A another boxing show takes place with Top Rank headlining its card with Arnold Barboza (26-0, 10 Kos) meeting Danielito Zorrilla (16-0, 12 KOs) in the main event at Pechanga Resort and Casino on Friday July 15, in Temecula. ESPN will televise.

Two undefeated super lightweight prospects face each other to decide their future in prizefighting.

Barboza, 30, has been around for awhile and has been knocking off fellow contenders for years. He’s maintained his place in line but the time has come to get that world title shot and he’s not shy about asking for it.

“All the hard work is paying off. I began my career fighting on the small UniMás shows and now I’m the main event on ESPN, but we are not satisfied. We want more,” said Barboza.

Zorrilla, 28, is another Puerto Rican slugger who has potential star power, but finding the next Miguel Cotto or Felix Trinidad is not easy. Like Barboza, he’s been knocking off fellow contenders including the shocking second round shellacking of Mexico’s Pablo Cano.

“We are working hard to represent Puerto Rico. If the opportunity presents itself for me to become the next big Puerto Rican star, we will be ready for that and will take it. That is what we are working for,” Zorrilla said.

Whoever wins between Barboza and Zorrilla moves on to a world title fight while the loser has a decision to make whether to remain in the sport.

Also on the card are 2021 Tokyo Olympian heavyweight Richard Torrez and local prospect Raymond Muratalla.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

Social Influencers in Prizefighting

The rise of boxing shows led by influencers has firmly taken root.

Jake Paul has successfully busted into legitimacy and will fight Hasim Rahman Jr. it was announced on Tuesday in New York City. The fight card will include women’s boxing’s super fighter Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano whose fight against Katie Taylor sold out Madison Square Garden last April.

Paul (5-0, 4 KOs) will meet Rahman (12-1, 6 KOs) in the main event on Saturday, Aug. 6, at Madison Square Garden. The cruiserweight fight will be aired via Showtime pay-per-view. Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs) defends her featherweight titles against Argentina’s Brenda Carabajal (18-5-1, 9 KOs) in the co-main event.

The Paul and Serrano combination proved to be successful as seen by Showtime network’s willingness to televise the Most Valuable Promotions fight card run by Paul.

Now other influencer groups are joining the fray.

In Los Angeles, another boxing card mixed with social influencers called Social Gloves: No More Talk takes place at the Crypto.com Arena on July 30. A mixture of boxing contenders such as Ali Akhmedov, Cem Kilic, and other pro boxers along with NFL and NBA players such as Adrian Peterson and Nick “Swaggy P” Young are fighting on the card.

The main event features influencer Austin McBroom versus Ali Eson Gib in a light heavyweight match set for six rounds. McBroom is the co-promoter of the event along with Bash Boxing. Tickets are available on AXS.com. The fight card can be viewed on SocialGloves.tv pay-per-view.

Fights to Watch

Thurs. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Quinton Randall (9-0-1) vs Ivan Pandzic (14-1-1).

Fri. ESPN+ 4 p.m. Arnold Barboza (26-0) vs Danielito Zorrilla (16-0).

Sat. ESPN+ 12 p.m. Michael Eifert (10-1) vs Adriano Sperandio (14-1).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Ryan Garcia (22-0) vs Javier Fortuna (37-3-1).

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