Ryan Garcia’s confidence is still through the roof despite losing his last fight to Gervonta Davis via knockout. 

Their 136-pound catchweight clash yielded nearly 1.2 million pay-per-view buys and $22.8 million in ticket revenue.

Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) will be making his return following the loss on Dec. 2 when he takes on Oscar Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) at the Toyota Center in Houston on DAZN and he has big plans for 2024 should he return to the win column. 

“They are talking about Teofimo Lopez, the winner of Devin Haney and Regis Prograis [as my next opponents]. I'm doing everything to become a world champion,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com in an interview. 

“I don't know who that's going to be against or what it looks like. I don't know if it will be Rolando Romero. I don't know. I have no clue. But what I do know is that I got to do what I got to do to become a champion. I’m not worried about people anymore. I did that before. I sacrificed. I suffered for people. Now I am coming back for me and to become a champion. I'm moving at my pace, however I want to do it. They need me, remember that. Tank Davis was doing 150,000 PPV buys before he fought me. We got 1.2 million [PPV buys]. That should tell you something. They need me ... because I am the guy. It's just what it is. You need me to make a big fight ... the new [PPV] blueprint is that you need a dance partner ... that's the key ... this guy Duarte is good, but only to the boxing fans. Nobody knows him. I can't go around the street and go, 'yo, you know who Oscar Duarte is?' Why would I put that on PPV and rob my fans? I’m honest with my fans.”

Boasting a strong online presence with over 10.3 million followers on Instagram across diverse audiences, Garcia is adamant that he has the secret sauce to overtake former stablemate Canelo Alvarez’s throne as the next PPV king. 

“Yeah, for sure [I consider myself the next great PPV star in the sport]. And Canelo said it himself, too, that 'Ryan has the potential to become the next one, and the next PPV star.' I just have to keep on being strategic, stick to the blueprint, and be confident,” said Garcia. 

The highly-desired cross-promotional fights Garcia will demand requires his team to continue improving the workable relationship with Golden Boy Promotions amidst ongoing litigation. 

“I really haven't talked to Golden Boy too much, to be honest,” said Garcia. “I haven't talked to anybody. I don't really conversate with them, at all.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.