The buildup to Devin Haney’s WBC super lightweight title defense against Ryan Garcia, which takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 20, has been thoroughly unique.
The challenger’s unpredictable behavior on social media has dominated the headlines throughout and traditional shoulder content has taken a backseat. Just a few weeks out from the biggest fight of his life, Garcia admitted that he’d been drinking and taking drugs, and then things got much darker when, in a series of bizarre posts, the young Californian made outlandish statements, including that he had “died” and claiming to have been a victim of child abuse.
However, despite everyone’s concerns about his state of mind, Garcia is extremely confident in his physical ability at 140 pounds. While he was far from his best in a 143-pound catchweight bout against Oscar Duarte in December, Garcia did score the eighth-round knockout, halting a durable opponent who had never been stopped before.
“The energy levels were much different,” Garcia told The Sporting News. “I was extremely focused and my brain was there. There’s a lot that was much better in the Duarte fight and now it’s even better. That should tell you what to expect.
“Those extra pounds, when you’re cutting weight, they matter. It’s a very delicate thing and I’m just happy that I’m fighting at a weight that I’m comfortable with.”
In his only career defeat, last April, Garcia succumbed to a knockout loss at the hands of Gervonta “Tank” Davis in a bout that was contested at 136 pounds. Following an aggressive start, the Los Angeles star was decked in round two before being halted by a single body shot in the seventh.
Ahead of that fight, Garcia was supremely confident of overwhelming Tank with his speed and power. I asked the challenger if he was planning the same kind of aggressive approach on April 20.
“As an elite-level athlete, there is no way I’m going to give you any indication of what I’m gonna do in that ring,” snapped Garcia. “There is absolutely no way….”
When I interjected to point out that Garcia told the world that he would knock out Davis in two rounds, he explained that making weight for that fight left him with no choice.
“I told Tank what I was going to do,” admitted Garcia. “I said to myself, ‘I’m not gonna be able to do this for 12 rounds. I’m just going to have to go for the kill because I have no energy. It’s either I knock him out early or I end up dying out.’
“If you’ve got no food, carbs or water, you’re not gonna do s___. You won’t be able to play ping-pong. How do you expect me to box for 12 rounds? (laughs). It’s actually crazy that I stepped in the ring. I should have passed out. My lips were blistered up, I was shaking in bed, heat flashes. I don’t even know how I survived.”
