Devin Haney: There’s something wrong with Ryan Garcia

Devin Haney & Ryan Garcia

BILL HANEY mockingly presented Ryan Garcia with a gift Thursday during the final press conference for Garciaโ€™s 140-pound title fight with his son.

Garcia grabbed the copy of โ€œPsychology For Dummiesโ€ and immediately tossed it off the stage at Barclays Center. Haneyโ€™s father and trainer nonetheless noted that he isnโ€™t buying Garciaโ€™s disturbing behaviour as evidence that he is mentally unfit to fight Saturday night for Devin Haneyโ€™s WBC super lightweight title.

Bill Haney believes that Garcia has attempted to con their team and the public into thinking this is a legitimate meltdown from a polarising opponent who has been very open about his mental health struggles. Devin Haney disagreed with his dadโ€™s perspective after witnessing more of Garciaโ€™s strange antics Thursday.

โ€œThereโ€™s something wrong with him,โ€ Devin Haney told a group of reporters after the press conference. โ€œI donโ€™t know whatโ€™s going on, but that shit is not normal. We all know that.โ€

The 25-year-old Garcia, clad in a bulletproof vest, demonstratively sang about Jesus when it was his turn to speak at the podium. He later yelled at a member of Haneyโ€™s team about the antagonistโ€™s mom sliding into Garciaโ€™s DMs and threatened to force oral sex on that team member.

Garciaโ€™s conduct encapsulated a promotion that has been cringeworthy even by boxingโ€™s boorish standards.

Promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Eddie Hearn and their PR teams were wise enough at least to keep the fighters apart Thursday. They didnโ€™t pose for photos largely because Haney struck Garcia to the side of his face during a heated exchange while they promoted their DAZN Pay-Per-View main event atop the Empire State Building in Manhattan on Tuesday.

They were relegated to talking trash and bet $500,000 per pound on whether Garcia would come in overweight Friday afternoon at Barclays Center, the home arena of the NBAโ€™s Brooklyn Nets.

Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) predicted that Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) wonโ€™t stand in the centre of the ring and trade with him because the heavily favoured fighter will be entirely too wary of his power.

โ€œWeโ€™ll go in the centre of the ring,โ€ Garcia said. โ€œWeโ€™ll see what you do. Nobodyโ€™s worried about that. Go run, go fucking go to the center, whatever the fuck you want. Iโ€™m gonna hunt you down and Iโ€™m gonna fucking knock you out.โ€

Haney, who dominated powerful southpaw Regis Prograis in his last fight, promised that he will gladly commit to facing Garcia on the inside.

โ€œThe talking is almost done,โ€ Devin Haney said. โ€œThe antics is almost done. This is not a easy fight, but this is a fight that I will make look easy. Through all the antics, through everything, I kept my blinders on and I stayed focused. I had my tunnel vision and on Saturday it will show. All his antics, all this stuff heโ€™s been doing will betray him and it will show.โ€

Bill Haney promised another dominant performance from his 25-year-old son, who dropped Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs) in the third round of Haneyโ€™s 140-pound debut and shut him out on all three scorecards December 9 at Chase Center in San Francisco.

โ€œAll [these] games that he thought that he was playing on the people โ€ฆ it didnโ€™t work with me and Devin,โ€ Bill Haney said. โ€œWe stayed focused. Thereโ€™s no excuses. Come Saturday night, put your kids to bed. Itโ€™s 18 and over because what Iโ€™m sending Devin to do to him shouldnโ€™t be on TV.

โ€œThey have violated everything about boxing, including throwing the book, disrespecting the sport, disrespecting religion. And for that, all gloves are off. If him and his team are really who they say they are, come to the centre of the ring. Come to the centre of the ring. Donโ€™t run. Donโ€™t run, because Devin is coming to do bodily harm to him.โ€

 

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