Ryan Garcia and Javier Fortuna both weighed in successfully ahead of their junior welterweight showdown, which takes place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Garcia weighed in at 140 pounds exactly and looked to be in excellent fighting shape. However, the 23-year-old Californian dropped a bombshell when he stated that this might be his weight division of choice going forward.

“I was thinking the other day that I might never go back to 135.” Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) told DAZN. “It’s just the way my life is going. [My last two fights], Emmanuel Tagoe and Fortuna, either one guy couldn’t make weight or we agreed to a catchweight. With Fortuna, he couldn’t make weight, and I was determined to make 135. I would have made it easy, but I just feel better at 140.”

When asked if this would derail the oft-mooted showdown with Gervonta Davis, Garcia had a workable backup plan.

“Tank will fight me at 140, I’m pretty sure,” he said.

And what about Devon Haney, who has all the belts at 135?

“It doesn’t matter,” said Garcia. “You guys put so much emphasis on these belts. Let them go. They don’t mean shit. Belts don’t means shit nowadays.

“If I beat Devon, they’re going to say, ‘Go fight Tank!’ If I beat Tank, they can’t say shit. If I’d beaten [George] Kambosos for undisputed, I wouldn’t have been proud of that. I’ll be proud when I beat everybody. That’s when I’ll hold my head up high.

“I’m not desperate to make a 135 bout. I’m desperate to make the biggest fights possible and give fans what they want. Everywhere I go, no one asks me about Devon Haney. Everybody asks me about Tank Davis. I want to whip that man and get my respect.”

Despite the breaking news, it’s imperative that Garcia gets past Fortuna. The 33-year-old lefty, who hails from the Dominican Republic and lives in Massachusetts, weighed in at 139.8 pounds.

Tom Gray is managing editor for Ring Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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