Bernard Hopkins has discussed the possibility of Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) stepping into the ring against former unified world welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) following Garcia’s emphatic victory against Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) on April 20 at the Barclays Center in New York.
Despite failing to make the 140lbs weight limit against Haney, Garcia dropped his rival three times en route to claiming a majority decision win, which silenced his critics and was his second victory under trainer Derrick James.
Last week, James and Spence filed suits against one another related to their earnings from their successful run together.
They parted ways in March, eight months after Spence suffered the first loss of his career, to Terence Crawford.
Garcia has leapt to James’s defense and even called for negotiations to commence with Spence regarding a possible fight with his former training stablemate. Garcia also claimed he would knockout Spence during an Instagram live.
Hopkins appeared on the Spit Bucket Podcast to discuss the prospect of a possible Garcia-Spence contest, claiming a fight between the pair was plausible given the personal differences.
“That is promotable,” said Hopkins. “That is something people want to see and not just the storyline. Errol Spence, to me, is a threat to anybody and is definitely a good soap opera leading up to the action of fighting. It gives something to the fight that makes it personal.”
Hopkins named both Spence and Gervonta Davis as top priorities for Garcia and even said that anything else is “just something to do to stay busy.”
“Personally, I say fight the best in the division for the most money. I understand that you are King Ryan, they make money by fighting you,” said Hopkins.
“If Spence is the one, which I believe it is. If it ain’t Tank [Gervonta Davis] and if it ain’t Spence or whoever else after that, those two [Spence and Davis] I see at the top of the good chain [as Garcia’s ideal next opponents]. Anything else to do to stay busy.”