Lucas Jones
For most of his career, many boxing fans’ biggest criticism of Ryan Garcia was that he was more focused on his social media than being a great boxer. Garcia was a product of a different generation, one of the few boxers to use social media to dramatically raise his profile and become a crossover star, something boxing fans have largely resisted.
Ahead of his showdown with WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney on Saturday, Garcia’s social media presence has taken a dark turn and may finally be providing the distraction many have warned about for so many years. More than talking about his fight with Haney, Garcia fell down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories more suited to QAnon forums than the timeline of a young social media influencer and boxer.
So what happened to Ryan Garcia?
If a promoter built a fighter in a lab, that fighter would probably look a lot like Garcia. He is young, charismatic, handsome and blessed with speed and power. Combine that with talented amateur experience and a savvy approach to social media that has led to 10.5 million Instagram followers, and you have the recipe for a huge box office draw.
And Garcia was that guy as he rose through the ranks. His Instagram posts attracted non-boxing fans to the sport and were generally the kind of wholesome, if generic, inspirational and comedic content you’d expect from a modern “influencer.”
After appearing on Logan Paul’s podcast in 2019, Garcia’s fame on social media only grew.
In early 2020, Garcia was expanding his mission to use his fame for good, continuing to impress in the ring and trying to inspire outside of it.
“Now I’m 21 years old and I’m trying to become the best role model I can and show how much I’ve matured and how much I can change the sport in general.” Garcia told Forbes in 2020. “I don’t know how far this can go. I’m glad it can make an impact.”
A year later, Garcia faced the toughest test of his career when he faced Luke Campbell for the interim WBC lightweight title. For the first time as a professional, Garcia was caught with a hard kick and knocked to the canvas. He managed to recover quickly and finished the fight in the seventh round.
In its own way, suffering the knockdown was a valuable moment for Garcia. Being handsome and active on social media resulted in a knee-jerk reaction from many that Garcia was soft and wouldn’t be able to handle adversity. Getting off the canvas and not fighting with fear was another positive mark for Garcia as a boxer.
After two more wins that brought his record to 23-0 with 19 knockouts, Garcia finally got the big fight he had been planning for years, a showdown with fellow young superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Before the fight against Davis, Garcia showed a little more edge than usual in interviews, but nothing outside of the normal expectations of boxers or boxing promotions. But the fight itself was bad for Garcia, who suffered a knockdown in the second round before failing to get up after a knockdown in the seventh.
Whether it was the disappointment of defeat or something deeper, things seemed to change for Garcia.
Garcia once withdrew from a fight against Javier Fortuna, originally scheduled for July 2021, citing the need to take care of his mental health. Garcia became an outspoken advocate for mental health and discussed how close his life came to ending during that dark period, which came after his knockout victory over Campbell.
“When I was deeply involved, I didn’t think I would survive, I was so depressed and I got into bad habits,” Garcia said on Inside Boxing Live. “I started drinking and I never drink, ever. But I was drunk all the time. I felt like killing myself at one point… It was so bad, so intense, that I thought maybe I’d rather not be here. I didn’t understand what was happening. happening. I needed professional help.”
In addition to the bizarre behavior on Twitter – with the conspiracy theory talk, claiming he has a real photo of aliens, posting videos claiming his phone and social media were taken away, etc. – Haney and others accused Garcia of drinking and/or using drugs before the fight, possibly seeking an excuse for Garcia’s bizarre behavior.
Among these accusers is influencer Jailyne Ojeda, who Garcia “hired” as a “Spanish coach” before the fight, generating several videos with the two. After a video was posted alleging that Garcia had repeatedly made Ojeda uncomfortable, including text messages between the two with Garcia apologizing for making her “feel weird” while thinking they were joking and also saying “I was drunk.”
Garcia went live on Twitter on Wednesday, claiming he wouldn’t address the situation other than he was planning to sue Ojeda and complaining that the text messages show she said she forgives him, so he doesn’t understand why she would come get him. it. him now.
Taking time off in 2021 to take care of his mental health, Garcia said he was drinking at the time, despite “never drinking, ever.” But as the fight approaches, he is now embroiled in controversy surrounding the situation with Ojeda, while also acknowledging the text messages in the video (which include the message “I was drunk”), just days before the fight. first time he will compete in a world championship. .
Drinking was a behavior Garcia linked to his severe and nearly suicidal decline in health just three years ago. To be engaging in this same behavior now, so close to the biggest fight of his life, while repeatedly expressing anger at those who have questioned whether he is in a safe mental state, suggests a possible disconnect that could set the stage for larger issues. in the near future. Not to mention Ojeda’s accusations about Garcia’s behavior towards her.
This is yet another strange step for Garcia, who has already attracted young people to boxing through his charming personality and ability to understand and utilize technology in the same way that most fighters do now. Now, instead of the same crowd, Garcia is attracting an almost opposite audience of extreme conspiracy theorists and those with fringe beliefs.
In the end, Garcia beating Haney and becoming world champion would likely cover up his behavior over the past few months. This would not be excused or forgotten, but fans who questioned whether Garcia’s mental state would affect his boxing performance would have that question answered.
If Garcia loses, though, especially in a one-sided fight, it’s easy to imagine the coming days and months will get much darker for him. Not only will the days of the young, exciting and inspirational figure be over, but it would also likely signal the end of anyone who considers Garcia a legitimate elite fighter.
How someone with a history of mental illness, seemingly in the depths of some new kind of crisis, would react to seeing everything fall apart so quickly is a scary thought.
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