The upcoming April 20th bout between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia has far surpassed the usual promotion with all eyes on the bout threatening to drown out even Canelo’s planned May 4th bout. With two press conferences being held between Haney and Garcia in New York and Los Angeles, the latest presser served to remind people that boxing remains first and foremost an entertainment business, rather than a genuine sports competition.
The LA presser, held on Friday, February 29th, started off flamboyantly with Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s), dressed in white, showing up on a white horse accompanied by dozens of endearingly-dressed ladies to apparently flavor up Garcia’s image as a “playboy”. The endearing spectacle offered up plenty of amusement as the American super lightweight contender played up his persona even up to when he was carried inside by his bodyguards.
However, it was during the press conference itself that things seemed to take a turn for the worse. With Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) and Ryan Garcia set to fight in the first professional bout against each other since going 3-3 against one another in the amateurs, there seemed to exist a genuine animosity between the two that has been made more flagrant given the magnitude of the positions they are now in.
With Devin Haney now in grasp of the WBC super lightweight title and Ryan Garcia considered a legitimate contender within the division, more appears to be at stake as their professional bout is set to draw a conclusion to a rivalry that spawned during their teenage years in the amateurs.
Unlike the Davis-Garcia fight, the Haney-Garcia bout appears to be pervaded more by personal resentment with plenty of personal remarks having been flung from both teams, capitalized by Garcia’s admittance of drug and alcohol use which complicates the fight in more ways than one. Complemented by pervasive trash talk between the two fighters and even a brief show from what appeared to be circus dancers, the press conference between the two might have exceeded the pressers that occurred last year between Garcia and Davis for their April 22nd fight.
While a lot of words were exchanged between the two teams, there does appear to be uncertainty hanging in the air surrounding Garcia’s mental state and preparedness following his admittance of drug use. Garcia’s own father and manager, Henry Garcia, did not help matters in the slightest when he offered commentary on Bill Haney, Haney’s manager/coach and father, who had insulted Henry Garcia by referring to his hair as a toupee.
“You’re a nappy head motherf*****.” Henry Garcia told Bill Haney.
“That’s what he’s looking like, that’s what he’s looking like. I’m sorry.” Garcia continued while Devin Haney openly regarded the remarks as racist.
While the interpretation of the insult as racist is a discussion best left for historical and/or lingual experts, the poorly-timed delivery of the insult has sparked some controversy, which in the long run can only benefit the fight with the attention that has now been drawn to it.
The LA press conference continued to be an odd mixbag of entertainment, personal enmity and theatrical absurdity, ending with a heated face-off between the two fighters. Even days after the presser, the promotion of the fight appeared to have not stopped as Ryan Garcia again involved himself in some controversy after posting a disturbing message on his Instagram account:
“THE DEATH OF RYAN GARCIA BILL HANEY WAS RIGHT ON THAT ONE BAA A ABANANABA WHABABANANANABA A BAPHOMET BAPHOMET,” The captioned Instagram video showed yesterday.
“HABABDBSBSBANANABABA. This is why you don’t mess with us at the top B**** A** B**** AHABABBABA SNSNSKANA ABSS SNANSNS. SS SNSNS S SMANS S WB S SUNDAY MARCH32024.“
The video, released on March 3rd, appeared to show glimpses of Ryan Garcia’s house, while the references towards “Baphomet” on its caption refers to Satanism. With the message also pointing towards both Garcia’s and Bill Haney’s deaths, there was naturally some concern drawn towards Garcia who had posted the video himself.
However, it was later confirmed by Henry Garcia that the post was merely an attempt by Ryan Garcia to “troll”, though concerns still linger following the recent admittance by Garcia in drug use, compiled with his switching of tunes over the past months in who he would fight.
Whether marketing or reality, Ryan Garcia has played a large role in attention being brought to his upcoming fight against Devin Haney, though there do remain question marks as to whether he is truly committed to face Haney on April 20th. Either way, there is sure some more controversy and spectacle to follow in the upcoming two months leading up to the fight, given the antics that recently occurred.
