Pacquiao fight close to being done, says Ryan Garcia's father

Ryan Garcia's dream fight with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao is close to being made, said Garcia's father Henry.

The 22-year-old WBC interim lightweight champion is coming off his biggest win to date against Luke Campbell earlier this month, where he won via seventh-round technical knockout.

Against Pacquiao, the fight would be an exhibition so the result will not reflect on either fighter's professional record. Either way, Garcia's father guaranteed that it is going to be a real fight.

"Everybody has agreed, all there is left are the details. But both parties have already agreed; promoters have agreed, sanctioning bodies have agreed, so we're very close to sealing the deal," Garcia told Sky Sports.

"We're going to know this week if everything goes through, we're negotiating today, they are already in discussion."

Pacquiao, the reigning WBA world welterweight champion, was leaning towards a showdown with former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor until it was derailed by the Irish's setback at UFC 257 last weekend.

Fans and scribes alike see the potential bout between Pacquiao and Garcia as a massive mismatch, but Henry guaranteed that his son is ready for the Filipino ring icon.

"When Ryan puts his mind to something he's not going to back down, he's got all of the confidence in the world," he said. "When you have that confidence and motivation and drive, you can focus on what's in front of you and you're most likely going to become victorious."

"He's 20 years younger than Pacquiao and we feel that's to our advantage and that's one of the reasons why I feel it's a changing of the guard fight—it's our time," he added.

Garcia holds an unblemished record of 21-0 with 18 knockouts while the 42-year-old Pacquiao has a record of 62-7-2 with 39 knockouts. Henry conceded that the Filipino has an overwhelming advantage in experience but stated that it is the fight that his son had always wanted.

"Ryan always admired Pacquiao and always wanted to fight a legend before his time was up, he wanted to fight someone of Pacquiao's calibre, so there's a chance it could happen." —MGP, GMA News