By Sam Volz: Javier Fortuna says he will knockout highly ranked lightweight contender Ryan Garcia and then “eat” his heart this Saturday night at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Fortuna’s comment about wanting to eat Ryan’s heart sounded like something the fictional character Hannibal Lector was saying from the 1991 movie ‘Silence of the Lambs.’
Golden Boy Promotions has big plans for Ryan (22-0, 18 KOs) to take on Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in December.
The only thing that stands in the way of that massive money fight from taking place is Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs). If Fortuna defeats Ryan, he’ll wreck his & Golden Boy’s vision of a battle with Tank later this year.
Whether the top brass with Golden Boy believes Ryan can defeat Tank Davis is debatable.
But it’s one of those fights where even if Ryan loses, the money will be so good for him and Golden Boy that it’ll soften the blow.
The tricky part will be for Golden Boy to try to rebuild Ryan after a defeat, so they rinse & repeat for another big money fight he has virtually no chance of winning.
“I will knock him out and eat his heart,” said Javier Fortuna to Fight Hub TV about his intentions for Ryan Garcia on Saturday.
Ryan, 22, hasn’t shown Fortuna much respect during the build-up to their fight by treating their contest like it was already a forgone conclusion that he would win.
With how Ryan performed in his two previous fights against Emmanuel Tagoe and Luke Campbell, the last thing he needs to do is act as if a victory over Fortuna is a sure thing.
Throughout most of the promotion, Ryan has talked incessantly about how he will fight Tank Davis in December and knock him out.
“He had to act out. There was no way he could hold it all in,” said Ryan Garcia about his face-off with Fortuna. “I was cool with him, and then he started talking about ‘I gave you the hat.’
“Then he got in my face. It doesn’t take a lot to get him mad. It’s funny. I poked a bear a little bit, and he started coming out. He knew I wasn’t going to back down. He looked into my eyes. He was like, ‘Damn, this guy ain’t.’
“He told me I was going to p*** when I see him. I look pretty good. I feel like I’m doing pretty good. It’s just fun with me. I’m not even attached to that type of emotion. All I see is a guy that is angry, doesn’t know how to hold it in, and he acted out.
“Never back down to no man. Don’t fear nobody. It doesn’t matter who’s in front of me. I don’t care. I don’t even see you. I just see an object. I’m going to destroy you,” said Ryan about Fortuna.
