Ryan Garcia revealed his toughest opponent in 27 professional fights, surprisingly mentioning a fighter he beat the distance.

Most would suspect that the American’s “toughest fight” was against Gervonta Davis, who stopped “King Ry” with a sickening body shot in the seventh round during the 2023 meeting.

Alternatively, Rolando Romero gave Garcia a hard night to work with in May 2025 when he scored a second-round knockdown before winning a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Devin Haney was also a tough opponent when they collided in 2024, with Garcia taking a majority decision before testing positive for the banned substance ostarine.

As a result, his victory was ruled a no-contest, and Garcia completed a one-year suspension before returning to the ring against Romero.

Interestingly, the current WBC welterweight world champion does not consider Davis, Romero or Haney to be his toughest opponent.

Instead, the 27-year-old did it he told DAZN that his most demanding task was against Oscar Duarte, whom he ultimately stopped in the eighth round in 2023.

“My toughest fight was Oscar Duarte – the one that Richardson Hitchins ducked. I knocked him out, but he was tough.

Duarte was scheduled to face Hitchins in February, but the then-IBF super lightweight world champion withdrew from the fight on the morning of fight night.

This was reportedly caused by Hitchins’ disease while trying to keep his weight under 150 pounds in accordance with the IBF’s 10-pound hydration policy.

Although Duarte did not get another shot at the world title, he is now preparing for an all-Mexican clash with Angel Fierro, whose performance will be seen in Gilberto Ramirez’s match against David Benavidez on Saturday.

Click here to watch Benavidez vs. live tonight. Zurdo!

The undefeated lightweight reacted immediately after commentator Sean Zittel linked Stevenson’s fight to other recent fights that he described as disappointing.

“I was too dominant but to say it wasn’t a real masterpiece. WOW,” Stevenson wrote on X, adding a laughing emoji to emphasize the sarcasm.

Zittel previously posted:
“I think both Shakur-Teofimo and Inoue-Nakatani were disappointing fights. They’re both great fighters, but neither was a true masterpiece.”

“Crawford-Canelo, Shakur-Teofimo, Inoue-Nakatani, Usyk-Fury, Bivol-Beterbiev. None of those fights were great.”

Zittel picked up on the growing frustration. Looking ahead to 2026, the approach to fencing matches is becoming a firm sell, especially for blue-collar workers who are spending their hard-earned cash on PPV.

Shakur had the skills to dominate Teofimo Lopez last January, but by choosing to never step on the gas, he drew boos from the fans at MSG. He felt like he was more afraid of failure than interested in winning substantial.

Usyk vs. Fury/Bivol vs. Beterbiev were billed as historic clashes, but the hefty emphasis on playing it unthreatening and neutralizing power rather than engaging left a sour taste. When the biggest names in sports settle for making a narrow decision, it drains the energy from the room.

The sport is losing ground to high-intensity formats because top athletes are too worried about their “0” to take the risk. If you’re paying $70, you don’t want to watch a guy jab and move for 36 minutes; you want a fight.

In the US market, this style comes with a literal price tag. Ordinary fans want to see “blood, smashed faces and broken bones,” as Turki Alalshikh said last year, not a 12-round encounter on the track.

Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed super bantamweight world title at the Tokyo Dome, defeating Junto Nakatani via unanimous decision.

The fight – billed as the biggest in Japanese history – delivered both technical excellence and drama, but it was Inoue who further cemented his pound-for-pound credentials with a victory on the cards.

At the post-fight press conference, Nakatani did not excuse the defeat, instead praising his opponent.

“I was fully prepared for this fight with Inoue, so there were no massive surprises in the way he fought me. But he had championship caliber and I was impressed with his boxing style in the ring.”

The fight consisted of two halves – cautious at the beginning and brave at the end. It was Inoue who benefited from early work in the first rounds, with a edged jab and elite moves that allowed the rounds to get through.

When asked why he fought with this plan, Nakatani replied that he wanted to introduce modern tactics as the fight went on.

“Naoya is a pretty good student. He learns a lot in such a miniature time, so I didn’t want to reveal everything I had in the first rounds. That’s why I fought this way.”

Nakatani came on powerful in the second half, especially in rounds eight, nine and ten. In the tenth throw, the undisputed champion seemed to be in trouble due to his massive barriers, but a deep cut around the eye caused the eleventh to swing in Inoue’s favor.

However, it appears that the cut was not the only deciding factor, as Japanese media reported that Nakatani left the press conference to undergo tests at a hospital for a suspected orbital floor fracture, potentially caused by one of the powerful uppercuts he suffered overdue in the fight.

A crease under the eye, which is not uncommon in boxing, can require a long recovery, especially if surgery is necessary. If managed properly, a career can continue on the same path, as Inoue himself has seen suffer from similar injury against Nonito Donaire in