Professional boxer Ryan Garcia is arguably the face of boxing after winning his latest bout against World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Lightweight Champion Devin “The Dream” Haney.
Garcia has been making several headlines, but a majority of them have to deal with him and the idea of being “crazy.”
But, Garcia is not crazy.
In an appearance on the PBD Podcast after the fight, Garcia admitted to his recent antics all being a part of an act in preparation for the fight.
“I have it all documented,” Garcia said on the podcast. “It was all planned weeks and weeks behind.”
People in the media are now conspiring whether or not he is being told to give in to these antics by claiming them as a simple marketing scheme to promote the fights.
“I don’t know what made me come up with the idea,” Garcia said. “Honestly, I just one day decided to go all in and commit to a plan and I was not going to budge for nobody.”
Before the fight, Garcia spoke on a few different occasions, one being an appearance on The Really Good Podcast with Bobbi Althoff. The interaction between him and Althoff was uncomfortable at times on both ends. His energy could seem as if he was trying to be funny or maybe drank a little before the interview. Now, with the narrative, the idea of him being crazy is the primary subject.
Garcia making these appearances on these podcasts was genius because of the publicity he got. There was a personal feel to the podcasts that wouldn’t get shown at a boxing press conference, and that allowed him to say anything he’d like.
In a press conference before the fight and on several other occasions, Garcia was seen scrunching his nose, shaking his head around, and doing other things that contribute to the idea of being crazy.
In the grand scheme of it all, this was a very impressive marketing tactic.
Garcia made himself look like the underdog in this fight with Haney. He had to be cleared by the New York Boxing Commission of concern for his mental health.
He admitted to drinking and partying every night the week leading up to the fight and had a drink in front of everyone at the weigh-in conference. Garcia missed weight going over 3.2 pounds but hardly seemed bothered by it.
The odds were against Garcia, but he knew what he was doing going into this fight, betting $2 million on himself and was paid out $12 million.
Does Garcia have a lot of issues going on outside the boxing ring? Definitely, but he is not crazy. Looking at the pattern of when he would do these interviews, press conferences and when it all started, it is clear that it was a marketing tactic and a very good one at that.
Looking back at when Garcia was preparing to fight Gervonta “Tank” Davis, his approach to the fight was different in so many ways.
Garcia has always had the young king mentality being the fighter he is, but Davis had control of the narrative the entire time. After losing to Davis, there could not have been a better way to come back to the boxing scene than with what he did.
Using this narrative to quickly gain attention and when all eyes were on him. Garcia proved that he could dominate in the ring against a world champion, Haney.
Garcia has already called out professional MMA fighter Sean O’Malley and Davis for a potential rematch.
Despite all the antics being the highlight of this chapter in his career, Garcia needs to enter the ring with Davis once more with the current shape he is in. Garcia looks fast and always has but it’s the difference in power that he has now that he didn’t have before.
It will be up to Davis to meet Garcia at his weight class of 145 pounds. If the rematch does happen, there will likely be a different outcome the next time around.
