Ringside

By Doug Fischer |

(Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions)

MENTAL BREAKDOWN OR MODERN PROMOTION?

As we wrapped up this issue, the Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia fight was still set for April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

It looks like Garcia’s finally in a stable-enough mode to make it to the finish line, but there had been serious doubt about whether “KingRy” was mentally fit to challenge Haney, or fight at all, due to a series of bizarre interviews and posts the Gen-Z star put out to his millions of social-media followers between the final week of February (when the two-city press tour for the Golden Boy/DAZN pay-per-view event took place) and the second week of March.

The promotional tour got off to an uneasy start. Garcia, who declared that he would do everything in his power to move the event to Las Vegas prior to the New York City presser, appeared inebriated during the press conference at the Palladium Times Square (and was accused of being drunk by Haney). Garcia said he was “high as fuck” during a loopy interview live-streamed the day before the Los Angeles presser where, after making the media and his fans wait more than an hour, he admitted that he smokes weed and drinks (alcohol) during his turn at the podium inside the Avalon Hollywood nightclub.

The prima-donna behavior and professed non-Spartan lifestyle smacked of unprofessionalism, but the real shitstorm occurred on social media soon after the pressers.

During a three-week period, Garcia:

Posted a disturbing, jumbled message threatening his imminent kidnapping and killing by a satanic cult. (Garcia would soon claim that his Instagram account had been hacked, and that Satan, the cult, the Illuminati and “Bohemian Grove” are all very real.)
Posted a statement that he’s “OK, not dead” with the explanation: “They tried to put me in jail, they’re blocking my cards, I can’t access my money.”
Conducted a psychotic f-bomb-laden live interview with fellow influencer Andrew Tate, claiming among other things that he was abducted, taken into the woods, tied down and forced to watch videos of children being raped, before mentioning that he was raped as a 2-year-old.
Said he knows who killed Tupac.
Said there’s proof of alien life.
Claimed PRIME energy drink contains cyanide.
Ran through the streets of Dallas, Texas (where his training camp is located) asking random people if they were pedophiles.
Said he would bite both of Haney’s ears off.
Declared he would sue the New York State Athletic Commission if they attempted to administer a mental health evaluation prior to the Haney fight.

Would you believe me if I told you I know for a fact who killed Tupac, a lot of yall know the answer but I can prove it.

— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) March 13, 2024

Shortly after the unsettling Tate interview, Garcia returned to Instagram, where he acknowledged in a series of video posts (one of which ran on TMZ) that he’d put out some “pretty intense things” but was now “safe.” However, he stuck to his claims, stating that he had been “oppressed and forced to speak from different phones and outlets” during a “rough three days,” before adding that he wouldn’t speak about “anything other than boxing, sports and my fight” going forward. He seemed sedated in one of the videos posted on March 6, and he wore a crown of thorns (maybe it was an IG effect) in a version posted on March 8.

Videos of Garcia speaking in tongues followed, before he got back to the weirdness, such as this unintentionally hilarious SpongeBob cartoon-related March 13 post (a reply to a smartass who asked him if he knew the Krabby Patty formula in response to his Tupac post):

“Yes Mr Krabs uses Krab in his burgers he is a cannabal [sic] of sort. Really sick dude.

“Plankton actually the hero trying to expose his ass

“Fuck MR KRABS satan is his daddy cause he worships money.

“FUCK MR KRABS DEVIL WORSHIPPER”

On March 14, Garcia declared “I’m going dark zeros red!!! I will not be posting on social.” But he (and his production team and management) continue to post daily content on his X, Instagram and TikTok accounts.

The content ranges from typical boxing training to Christian faith posts to his music clips to random thoughts.

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

I call it “The CringeRy Show,” and as corny, weird, and disturbing as much of it seems to an old-head like me, the content has garnered tens of millions of views.

Is it a cry for help? Or is this just Garcia’s Gen-Z way of keeping himself and his April 20 date with Haney in the eyes and minds of his legion of followers?

His ex-wife and brother put out posts asking people to pray for Ryan because he’s under tremendous pressure and not handling it well. However, his father says he’s merely “trolling” but going about it the wrong way.

I wasn’t sure about Ryan’s mental state at the start of the month (which is why Haney-Garcia isn’t on the cover of this issue), but now I’m leaning toward Henry Garcia’s take.

Because while he was “saving the children” by posting all of this satanic cult and Illuminati stuff, he was engaging in silly feuds with UFC champ Sean O’Malley, fellow boxer-influencer Jake Paul (who happens to own PRIME), actor Shia LaBeouf, as well as pop stars Billie Eilish and Katy Perry. All the while, he’s saying the fight with Haney is on and he’s “coming for vengeance” or “blood” or whatever.

It’s all a bit much for me, and I think most hardcore fans are either fed up with Garcia or ambivalent by this point, but I don’t think the 25-year-old Californian cares what we think. We’re not his audience.

If The CringeRy Show keeps his fans engaged and into the fight, and if even a small percentage of his followers legitimately purchases the pay-per-view show, that support will likely push the buys up to the 1 million mark.

And maybe that’s all Garcia wants or needs – one more massive payday (to go along with the financial windfall he took in with the Gervonta Davis fight last April). Maybe it doesn’t matter to him if he gets his ass handed to him again. He’ll have earned a considerable nest egg with his guaranteed purse and percentage of the April 20 PPV revenue, and if he still has the itch to lace up gloves, he can make significant dough with a pivot to “celebrity boxing” (i.e. picking on famous-but-faded retired boxers, MMA athletes, fellow influencers and rappers). Maybe he doesn’t really need legitimate boxing.

Garcia rebounded from the loss to Davis with an eighth-round stoppage of Oscar Duarte in December 2023. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

If that’s the case, that’s fine and I wish him luck and good mental health, but I can’t get excited about this matchup if I think Garcia is mailing it in.

People give Garcia a lot of credit for creating big events with Davis and Haney, but making a ton of money isn’t enough. The fights matter.

The Four Kings weren’t special just because they fought each other. They are revered because their matchups usually created exciting, memorable fights. There was nothing memorable about Garcia’s body-shot submission to Davis. And there won’t be anything memorable about Haney-Garcia if the defending WBC 140-pound beltholder remains undefeated by shutting out Garcia over 12 monotonous rounds.

(Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions)

I want to make it clear that I’m not getting on Garcia’s ass because I’m turned off by his behavior or claims. I really don’t give a shit about his personal life or beliefs. Prima donnas, drug abusers, religious freaks, conspiracy theorists and straight-up maniacs are nothing new in boxing. If social media had been around in the days of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya, those hall of farmers would have treated (or appalled) the public and media with shitshows that make Garcia’s recent antics seem G-rated by comparison.

Hardcore fans know about much of that sometimes-sordid, behind-the-scenes history, but that’s not why we continue to reminisce and celebrate those boxers of past decades. We consider them great fighters because they gave us great fights with their rivals. That’s what we remember.

Garcia has created thousands of hours of social media content since he turned pro in 2016, but he’s only given us one entertaining fight against a legitimate contender (his up-from-the-canvas KO of Luke Campbell in 2021). That victory showed Garcia’s talent and potential (as well as his flaws). However, his choices since then – bouncing from Eddy Reynoso to Joe Goossen to Derrick James without allowing those renowned trainers to be the boss in training camps that resembled reality-TV production sites – clearly indicate that he’s more focused on making money and being famous than forging any sort of boxing legacy.

And that’s OK. I just can’t get excited about that. I’ll focus on his peers – Haney, Davis, Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson – as long as they fight each other, make for entertaining fights and lay off social media.