Promoter Bernard Hopkins wants to see Ryan Garcia and Shakur Stevenson fight at catchweight in the first half of 2025. Hopkins likes the idea of Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) and Shakur meeting at between 135 and 143.
Garcia’s one-year suspension ends in April, and he will be looking for an opponent to fight on PPV when he returns. Devin Haney is no longer an option because of his offense. Ryan will need someone the boxing world wants to see him fight. Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) could be an option if they can agree on a suitable catchweight.
Shakur does not have the credit of directing Ryan to drop below 140 to meet him at a catchweight of 137.5 lbs. There is a huge disparity in terms of popularity between these two fighters. Although Shakur is a world champion and has captured three divisional world titles, he is nowhere near as famous as Ryan.
In fact the only way a fight between Ryan and Shakur can happen is if it’s 143. Ryan is too big to pull up to 140, and if he did, there’s a good chance he’d gain weight.
“The weight he left,” said Bernard Hopkins to the media when asked what weight Ryan Garcia will fight when he returns to the ring after his one-year suspension. “143, 147. It will depend on who is hitting and who they have.”
If Shakur is confident of beating Ryan, he can agree to fight him at 143 to 147, but Golden Boy manager Oscar De La Hoya will need to give the green light. De La Hoya may not be open to matching Garcia against promoted Eddie Hearn-Shakur because that would involve facing someone he seems to like. If Ryan had lost to Shakur, Hearn wouldn’t have let De La Hoya see the end of it.
“Yeah,” Hopkins said of being a catchweight. “I can tell you who I think you are [Ryan] he must fight when the time comes. Do you want to know? I thought you were going to ask me, but it seems we won’t get there.
“Shakur. I would like to see him fight Shakur,” Hopkins said about wanting Ryan Garcia to fight Shakur Stevenson when he comes out of his suspension in April 2025. “There are no benefits. Shakur was sitting at the lake fishing, wasn’t he?”
Hearn already has big plans for Shakur to fight WBC #1 ranked contender William Zepeda in February and a unification bout with WBA champion Gervonta Davis in the summer. Would Hearn be willing to change those plans to allow Shakur to fight Ryan?
“Shakur wasn’t starting work, was he? When Ryan is ready, it should be, and I don’t know for sure. I could be wrong,” Hopkins said. “That’s got to be a healing time between now and then for Shakur, right? As long as he stays healthy. Out of the gate, not benefits. Would you agree? There are no advantages to the performance of both fighters.”
Shakur has hands like shriveled birds, and he could suffer another injury that could delay his return to the ring. Since last year he has been dealing with a hand injury, and this may be a permanent problem. Ryan can’t bet on Shakur being healthy for the first half of 2025 because he could have problems again. A better option for Ryan would be to challenge Mario Barrios for his WBO welterweight title next. Let Shakur fight Zepeda and meet his end.
“Get together,” Hopkins said when told it would be a big step for Shakur to move up from 135 to face Ryan Garcia, who is between 143 and 147. “We are in a different era right now. No one is talking about weight yet. He’s talking about Bud Crawford wanting to fight Canelo Alvarez.”
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