Ryan Garcia knocked out Devin Haney three times. Photo: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Ryan Garcia – like Henry IV Luigi Pirandello with his courtiers – has the last laugh, leading us and his opponent to the generous trick that he's gone crazy ahead of the WBC welterweight bout in Brooklyn ?
In the end, it was as spectacular as it was strange when huge underdog Garcia defeated opponent Devin Haney with three knockdowns on a rowdy night in New York.
Honest word, boxing has a way of creating the greatest and most extraordinary moments in the sport. This created the impression of the greatest drama (like the playwright Pirandello, who loved to suspend reality) and, perhaps, the greatest mind games.
It looked like that would be the case from the very first screaming “palm to the throat” antagonism during the media tour a few weeks ago, when the two young fighters attacked each other with noise and insults. This is bragging about the fight for rights. In the amateur category, they met six times, winning three times each. Game 7, if you will, was always going to be special. Two of the biggest young boxing stars in the United States. California boy Garcia: handsome, on edge and on edge, against Haney, who, as a teenage professional, boxed in dark bars in Mexico against grown men intent on taking over the sport.
Big push from @Realdevinhaney as he and @ryangarcia come face to face 🤯#HaneyGarcia | April 20 | Live streaming ONLY on DAZN. Click the link in the profile header to buy now pic.twitter.com/lYLTW4Py2k
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 16, 2024
Was this Garcia's greatest mind game, or was he a slightly confused young man making the most of his brilliant moment in the ring over an opponent who potentially looked set to become the next Floyd Mayweather?
That Mayweather thing is behind us now. and we may never know whether it was Garcia's moment or a huge blow, as Garcia felled Haney with superb power in the seventh round, again in the 10th and 11th, and reduced the boxing stylist to a wobbly-legged foe. looking for a break.
Garcia, the same matinee idol, simply defeated Haney with his speed and strength. However, if it had been the other way around in the fight, given Garcia's wild statements in the lead-up to the fight, he would have been very worried. Moreover, there were concerns for Garcia, as three years earlier he had spent nearly a year suffering from what he later discovered was anxiety.
Instead, the crowd shouted Garcia's name as if at the Colosseum in Rome. In this regard, the world questioned Garcia's thinking and mental health, now he is the new megastar of American boxing. People's champion. But with a caveat. And we will get there.
I want to hurt pic.twitter.com/ny630dof5c
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 18, 2024
This whole event and its development was strange, especially since Garcia's rants and ramblings, watched by his 12 million social media followers, have caused every self-proclaimed psychoanalyst and therapist on the planet (including boxers, trainers, journalists, commentators and promoters) to give their mental state a penny's worth.
The truth is that no one really knew whether Garcia was going crazy or not. After the fight, he told the world that it was one long ending. Did he really just send us all away? Was this a trick? Did he tease us about drinking beer (at the weigh-in) and smoking marijuana after training?
“Did you really think I was crazy? You're all crazy,” he said.
“You guys are all overdoing it.”
Whatever he endured, he was a victorious young man and a fighter who truly belonged in the squared circle. His performance was certainly not that of a man who lacked mental fortitude or self-belief. He defeated a pound-for-pound star in Haney.
In those strange few weeks leading up to the fight, the main storyline was whether Garcia was mentally okay. However, at every turn, he kept upping the ante, using his social media platforms to rant about the Illuminati, child abuse, P. Diddy, and anything else he could stir up while simultaneously doing everything he could to displease his opponent Haney, the defending champion, and his ever-present father Bill.
Indeed, Bill said his son would try to send Garcia to the hospital during the fight, which would be an ugly end to the final hours before the fight. I've rarely seen something so abnormal. Haney is very talented. And yet he was not himself.
Now this is a warning. The thing is, Haney still holds his 140-pound title belts because Garcia was 3 pounds over the limit and forfeited $600,000. It is believed that Garcia, avoiding a fine and a world title by not making weight, did not want to cut down to the leanest 10th version of himself, intending to use his full strength on the night. He played. People criticize Garcia for not losing weight and tell us to have fun. However, this simply made him a star.
Why would I force myself to gain weight to be weak
No, I'm here to win
That's all
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 19, 2024
They will fight again, these two, for the mega bucks. Haney will want revenge after losing by majority decision. He'll have to regroup. Garcia will probably come up with a new game. But in many ways he is a new hero. The next fight will be even bigger. And we'll always wonder if Garcia was playing the greatest mind games since Muhammad Ali.
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