Garcia’s camp sought to explain his behavior by claiming that Ryan was “just trolling.” But that was a hard sell. Garcia also informed his followers on social media that PRIME (a sports drink backed by KSI and Logan Paul) contains cyanide and that anyone who drinks PRIME is “working for Satan.” By the end of the week, a disheveled and seemingly worn-out Garcia vowed to pull back on the exposing of evil while he’s in camp for Haney, although he did leave the door open with a not-so-cryptic ‘Just bc I’m training don’t mean I’m done exposing.’ A TikTok live video where he doubles down on his claims and ups the ante by promising to provide proof of time travel pretty much confirms that the craziness will continue.” It got so bad that notable nutjob Alex Jones recorded a video urging Garcia to reel it back. After starting the week with a clearly staged kidnapping of himself, ‘King Ry’ frenzied about aliens, satanic ritual sex abuse of minors, conjuring demons, Elon Musk as the antichrist, predictions of a June 6 earthquake that will destroy Los Angeles, and talked up a vision of his own literal crucifixion at the hands of the ‘elites.’ At one point, he started speaking in tongues. A series of bizarre social media posts followed.Īs summarized by Paul Magno (because I have neither the time nor the inclination to follow all of the boxing-related lunacy that exists on social media), “Garcia, who seemed to be in a something-induced state of mind, rifled through just about every conspiracy theory over the course of a multi-day social media meltdown. Two days later in Los Angeles, it was worse. Ryan’s behavior was erratic at the February 27 kickoff press conference for Haney-Garcia in New York.

“Of course, you’re going to experience some mental health issues. “We’re going into a ring in front of millions of people, putting our reputations on the line and getting hit in the head,” he told Donald McRae of The Guardian. After his Januvictory over Luke Campbell, he spent fifteen months away from boxing, citing psychiatric difficulties.

Garcia has struggled with demons in the past. There were times during the build-up to Haney-Garcia when Ryan seemed mentally unstable to the point where there was concern that he was having a breakdown. Garcia is currently trained by Derrick James, who has come after Henry Garcia (Ryan’s father), Eddy Reynoso, and Joe Goossen on the coaching carousel.Īnd there was another factor to consider. Haney is focused on his craft and has been trained by his father for the entirety of his boxing life. And as Paulie Malignaggi noted, “Haney’s on a roll. But his heart has been called into question. He’s bigger than Lomachenko and hits harder than Kambosos. Garcia has skills and fast hands with a hurting left hook. But when Team Haney (led by promoter Eddie Hearn) sat down to negotiate with Team Garcia (aligned with Golden Boy Promotions), Devin’s side agreed to take the short end of a 55-45 financial split because of Ryan’s marketability. In sum, Haney’s resume as a fighter was more accomplished than Garcia’s. It was a bad night in that, trailing on all three judges’ scorecards, Ryan quit after taking a body shot in round seven and later said that he’d gone into the fight with an injured rib. It was a good night for Ryan in that numbers released after the bout indicated that Davis-Garcia generated $22.8 million in ticket sales (the fifth largest live gate in Nevada boxing history) and a reported 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. He built his record against carefully selected opponents and then was matched against Gervonta Davis in a Las Vegas megafight last year. Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs, 1 KO by) has cultivated the image of a Hispanic-American heartthrob and now has eleven million followers on Instagram. Then he moved up in weight and dominated Regis Prograis to claim the WBC 140-pound crown. Haney (who came into the bout with a 31-0, 15 KOs record), collected all four sanctioning body belts at 135 pounds in a campaign highlighted by victories over George Kambosos (twice) and Vasyl Lomachenko (a controversial decision). When Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia met in the ring at Barclays Center on April 20, most fans saw what they least expected – a great fight.

Former HBO Boxing commentator Larry Merchant is fond of saying that boxing is the theater of the unexpected.

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