Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell is not concerned for a moment with the popular training video clips that are being posted by his upcoming opponent, Ryan Garcia, who has a huge following on social media.
Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs), 33-years-old, has dropped competitive decisions in his two most high profile fights – world title challenges against Jorge Linares (2017) and Vasiliy Lomachenko (2019).
Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs), 22-years-old, is a rising star in the sport and many experts view the upcoming contest as a true test of his worth in the ring.
“I don’t know a lot about him except that he’s got a huge profile on social media, a hell of a lot of followers,” Campbell told ESPN. “When you have that amount of followers, you have to keep them interested with stuff, videos. For me, I prefer to just live my life. I’ve not followed his career. I’ve had no reason to.
“It all looks good on video, but there’s plenty of kids out there who can hit the pads quickly — but not look good in the ring. You can throw 1,000 uppercuts in 5 seconds on the pads. But it’s not real. There’s no one in front of you trying to take your head [off], just someone holding the pads.”
Their fight, which is being carried on DAZN, is taking place on January 2nd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The winner will walk away with the WBC’s interim-lightweight title – earning a shot at the full world champion Devin Haney.
“It’s a great opportunity for the winner,” Campbell said. “I feel like I’m coming into my prime and I’ve not hit my peak yet or shown what I’m capable of. It’s taken me longer than other people to adjust into the pro game, to find my feet. I feel as if I’m just getting there.
“I want to be a world champion. I’m probably about 70 percent more well known than other world champions out there, and that’s something I’ve also wanted to achieve — to be well known by boxing fans for fighting at world-class level.”