A lot of questions have been asked about the mental state of Ryan Garcia 24-1 (20) leading into his challenge of WBC junior welterweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 31-0 (15) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday night.
The behaviour of the 25-year-old Los Angelan can be best described as erratic and, at worst, troubled and deranged.
Garcia’s social media accounts are flooded with bizarre content, including but not limited to proof of alien sightings and child trafficking rings, ramblings about Jesus and talk about alcohol and drug use.
Just this week he recommended drinking wine, smoking marijuana “to the point of exhaustion” and maintaining a high caffeine intake to combat dementia.
Garcia’s direct interactions with Haney have been just as difficult to fathom. They have ranged from singing to him to shouting in his face and everything in between.
Retired former world champ turn pundit Tim Bradley has been quietly observing the Ryan Garcia show. He does not like what he has seen. In fact, it bothers him.
“A couple of weeks ago we were saying, ‘something is not right, something is wrong upstairs’. We didn’t know where he was psychologically because he was all over the place. We were worried about that,” Bradley said to the ProBox TV.
Bradley says he can see through the false bravado that Garcia exudes. The way he is acting, says Bradley, is entirely at odds with his experience about this time in a training camp when much of the focus is usually on making weight.
“I’ve been seeing videos of him talking trash and kind of exuding confidence in the lead-up to this fight,” he said. “I think it’s false. The week of the fight when you’re making weight, draining yourself down, you’re at your weakest point.
“You’re at your weakest point physically and you’re at your weakest point mentally because you’re not feeling well. Once you get on that scale [for the weigh-in] and you start to get some food in you and them demons start to creep in.
“When I’m talking about demons, I’m talking about self-doubt. That’s what starts to creep up. Devin Haney, he has that on lock, whereas Ryan, I don’t trust his psyche, I really don’t.
“Right now, it’s some sort of facade and he’s trying to pump himself up. But as soon as he puts his foot on them scales and he goes back to that room and he goes to sleep at night or attempts to go to sleep at night and those demons start to creep up, he’s going to weaken.”
Bradley added: “When he gets in that ring and starts feeling that heat, I feel with his mental state, he’s going to fold under that pressure.”