As fight fans are more than certainly aware, there have been some accusations hurled at Ryan Garcia these past couple of days, of him being drunk at the opening press conference to hype the April 20th fight between “KingRy” and reigning and defending WBC 140 pound champ Devin Haney. And there have also been strong suggestions that Garcia has taken, and is taking, recreational drugs.
Garcia, who did seem to slur his words in the first presser, had a croaky voice that was absolutely noticeable during the second presser. Haney asked his rival, “what the f**k happened to your voice?” Garcia said he had a sore throat, this brought on by him “screaming for these promos.”
Garcia then made it clear he does not take cocaine. This as Haney taunted him by saying, “stop the coke, it’s f*****g up your voice.”
“I wanna clarify some things,” Garcia said, his face twitching a little as he spoke. “I don’t do cocaine. I will do a live drugs test…..”
“What do you do?” Haney interrupted.
“I drink and I smoke weed,” Garcia replied. “And so has the majority of this room.”
Haney carried on criticising Garcia, asking him what kind of a role model he is for the kids.
“What kind of example are you for the younger generation watching this?” Haney demanded. “[You] talking about drinking and smoking weed, making that cool. The younger generation look up to us. Whatever you do behind closed doors, you do behind closed doors. It’s young kids watching us.”
Garcia said his admitting he drinks and smokes weed shows he’s “real.”
“You finally got somebody that raised their hands saying I’m real, I’m like this, I do drink, I do smoke, now what? Guess what? We all have flaws, and we all evolve as people,” Garcia said. “I’m 25 years old, sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I don’t know how many people have been 25 and made $100 million in their life and can do whatever they want. I want to see what you would do in my shoes.”
So, do you like and respect Garcia’s honesty, or do you agree with Haney that Garcia is a bad influence to the young kids watching? Talk about two fighters who have totally different personal lives. Haney is teetotal, Garcia says that yes, he does drink and smoke. All good, so long as the fighter’s career is not affected by a serious habit. Speaking of this potential issue, some fans and experts have said they have fears the April 20 fight between Haney and Garcia may not go ahead as scheduled.
“Hopefully he can get it together,” Haney said of Garcia.
Indeed. Right now, Arnold Barboza Jr, who is set to feature on the Haney-Garcia under card, has put his name forth as a substitute for Garcia in case “Ryan doesn’t get his s**t together.”
Let’s hope the Haney-Garcia fight goes ahead as scheduled, with both men coming in clean and fully healthy.
