Boxing star Ryan Garcia planning to retire at 26 for joining MMA

Aged just 22 years, Ryan Garcia is the rising star in the world of boxing. He has already earned a name for himself and is expected to become a far bigger name in the future. However, he doesn’t plan to spend his entire career inside the boxing ring. So he wants to retire at 26 and join the MMA.

Speaking on a recent interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” Garcia said, “At 26, I still plan to retire,” Garcia said. “But if I do return back in the ring, I will promise everybody that I will fight people that they say I won’t beat. (Do) you know what I’m willing to do? I haven’t really said this out loud. What I plan to do is – say, at 26, I’m done, retired, and boxing is all good, right? … If they say, ‘OK, you’ve beaten everyone in the ring, right?’ (If) somebody goes, ‘This ain’t real fighting. Real fighting is legs, choking, submissions, all that.’ 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’ll go to MMA to prove a point that God is greatest. I’ll go beat whoever in MMA they say I won’t beat. If it has to be Conor McGregor (I fight), I will. I’m not saying this to get money. I don’t care about money. I’m saying this because it’s just how I feel.”

Garcia doesn’t plan to fight simply just for the sake of it. In fact, he wants to take on Challengers — fighters who people think are capable of defeating him.

“You’ve seen in the past fighters who retired and came back,” he continued.

“This is what I will say. I still plan to retire at 26 – yet, if I am to return back to the ring, I will only battle people (who) people at that time say, ‘There’s no way Ryan will beat him.’ That’s the only way I’m coming back. ”

Garcia doesn’t have a fresh fight booked after a body-shot TKO victory over Luke Campbell earlier this month. McGregor (22-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC), however, is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier on January 23 in the rematch of their September 2013 fight.