Ryan Garcia is planning for an early retirement…
The 22-year-old Mexican American boxer, who claimed the WBC interim lightweight title earlier this month, believes he’ll be done with boxing early.
Garcia plans to retire at the age of 26.
But the red-hot prospect is not saying he’ll give up all combat sport at that time.
Garcia announced on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday that he’ll consider moving over to MMA following his boxing career. He said he wants to prove he’s the best fighter in the world — and not just in the ring.
“If they say, ‘OK you’ve beaten everybody in the ring’ [and] somebody goes ‘this ain’t real fighting — real fighting is legs, choking, submissions, all that,'” Garcia said. “Guess what I’ll do? I’ll go prove to them that I’m the best fighter all around in the world. I’m talking about hands, I’m talking about wrestling. I will go to MMA to prove a point that God is greatest. And I’ll go beat whoever it is in MMA they say I won’t beat. If it has to be Conor McGregor, I will. And I’m not saying this to get money — I don’t care about money. I’m saying this just because it’s how I feel.”
Garcia said his plan is to still leave boxing when he’s 26 years old. But he wouldn’t rule out a comeback there, either.