Duarte is far from being elite, this is just a test for him. GBP pick a good fighter for Ryan. Sort of more to build his confidence back. We can only see improvements on Ryan if let's say a Teo Lopez fight or any of the top 5 boxers in this division.
Teofimo revealed that he turned down a $1.5 million offer to fight Ryan Garcia. Perhaps it was a bit of a lowball offer from Golden Boy, but I also don't think Teo is worth nearly as much as he thinks he is. The long layoff due to Covid and personal issues followed by a loss to Kambosos and a lackluster split decision win against Sandor Martin really hurt his value.
Yeah, I think that was an obvious low ball offer from GBP. If I'm not mistaken, he is close to $5 million on that lost to Kambosos. But he was able to quickly bounce back after winning a belt against Josh Taylor at 140 lbs. And with that he is the lineal champion.
Ryan still has several options but at 140 the only champion he is capable of beating, in my opinion, is Rolly Romero. That should be his next target if he beats Duarte.
Weakest amongst the 140 lbs is Romero but the scary champion is Matias with that power and good chin. He might not be very technical but he could knockout everyone in the division, even Ryan Garcia. So I think GBP will stay away from Matias for now unless they want a biggest risk, bigger reward fight.