By Sean Jones: Paulie Malignaggi questions whether Ryan Garcia “mentally” wants to box, and the fact that he chose not to take a tune-up to prepare himself for the mega-fight with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on April 15th makes him suspicious.
Malignaggi isn’t saying what he’s suspicious of, but it could be the same things that Tank Davis’ trainer Calvin Ford mentioned recently about the change in Ryan’s physique.
Paulie also wonders whether Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) mentally has his mind in the game of boxing, as stopped fighting as often after having to get up off the deck in his fight with Luke Campbell in January 2021.
Ryan has fought twice since then, facing soft punchers in Emmanuel Tagoe and Javier Fortuna in gimme-fights.
Malignaggi feels that Ryan got scared from what happened to him in the Campbell fight and became concerned that his carefully crafted image could be blown apart if he were to keep fighting often.
If Ryan had stayed active and continued fighting top-level contenders, he might have gotten knocked out and then lost his chance for a big money cash-out against Tank Davis, which he arguably hasn’t earned.
“I still don’t understand why [Ryan] Garcia wouldn’t want to take a tune-up fight before the [Gervonta] Davis fight. I’ve got a little bit of suspicions, but I don’t know,” said Paulie Malignaggi on Paulie TV.
“It’s kind of weird going into a big fight. It’s not as if Ryan has been all that active, and now he’s not going to take a tune-up fight. He probably could have used a tune-up fight against Mercito Gesta, which he was scheduled to do it before the Davis fight,” said Malignaggi.
Of course, Ryan could have used a tune-up fight, but if he had fought someone halfway decent like Mercito Gesta, he might have lost. If an average puncher like Campbell was good enough to drop Ryan Garcia, Gesta might have done the same thing, and there’s no way of knowing if he gets up from the knockdown.
“First, let’s see if the fight even happens,” said Malignaggi. “I’m hearing April 15th. I think at least Davis has been active, and I think he’s probably going to be the favorite because he’s been so active.
“Physically, Ryan does have the tools, but mentally, I don’t know that he wants to do this, and if you mentally don’t want to do this, and if you mentally don’t want to do this. In my opinion, Gervonta Davis is battle-tested,” said Malignaggi.
As Paulie points out, he feels that Ryan Garcia is doing a lot of different things outside the ring, and he’s not sure if he wants to be a fashion model, Youtuber, groupie to the Paul brothers or a commercial guy.
Ryan is making a lot of money outside of the ring, and he doesn’t need to box for the keep pouring in like an oil well that is faithfully producing, allowing the owner to enjoy passive income with no effort on his part.
“He’s been in with guys like Pitbull Cruz, and he’s kind of seen all styles, and he’s been in tough fights, and we’ve seen that he wants to work his way through them,” said Malignaggi about Gervonta. “We’ve also seen Ryan Garcia get up off the canvas against Luke Campbell.
“What I took out of that fight, although I saw that as a positive thing, the way that he came back and beat Luke Campbell, the fact that he’s been so inactive since, to me, tells me that maybe he got scared that maybe his entire image, his entire empire of his image might have blown up in his face if he loses the fight.
“So he’s better off not being so busy as a fighter and more so procuring his brand and image,” Malignaggi continued about Ryan Garcia. “It’s a big pay fight with Gervonta Davis. Eventually, it had to happen, and here it is. Physically, he’s [Ryan] got the tools.
“He’s long, he’s tall, he punches hard, and Davis, his defense is solid, but it’s not the best defense. He does get hit, and I think Garcia is the biggest power threat that Davis has faced in his career. I don’t think there’s been a stronger fighter.
“Maybe Pitbull Cruz is kind of strong, but I don’t think he was dealing with as much physical attributes that Gervonta will be dealing with Ryan Garcia because Ryan is tall, and he knows how to use that length with his jab, and obviously he has a big right hand and a hook that can hurt you. He also has faster hands than Issac Cruz too.
“So definitely, regardless of the inactivity of Ryan Garcia, I think from the physical standpoint and physical attributes, I think it’s the biggest threat for Gervonta Davis so far in his career. Again, Davis has fought some pretty good opposition. I think he’s well prepared for it.
“Guys like Rolly Romero were tall, and Rolly was boxing well. Also, I got to be honest. I thought Gervonta was losing the fight against Rolly until he stopped him.
“The fact that he was able to stop him despite being behind on the scorecards, in my opinion, shows that he knows how to work his way through a tough 12 round fight and knows how to think his way through it and not panic.
“I don’t know if a guy like Ryan who gets his back pushed up against the wall in a tough fight against Gervonta Davis, how he’s going to react and navigate his way through it.
“In the Luke Campbell fight, he got up off the canvas and got the stoppage. If he would have had to navigate his way through it, does he have the mental wherewithal to stay with the plan when he’s hurting, when he’s mentally in a panic mode?
“One thing we know about Gervonta Davis, he can do that. That’s sort of the big question for me with the Ryan Garcia fight. If I didn’t have these questions, I’d probably pick Ryan Garcia to win the fight, but because I have these questions and they’re not answered, I’ve got to pick Davis to win the fight.
“There are too many question marks around Ryan Garcia, and Davis keeps answering his question marks. I didn’t think the fight was the most exciting fight last weekend, and it seemed like a sparring session. Nonetheless, Gervonta Davis always finds a way to win and think his way through things, and he gets the win.
“I don’t think he was ever in a position to be threatened. It was a good win for Gervonta Davis.
“This was supposed to be a tune-up fight for Gervonta before the Ryan Garcia fight, and in modern-day boxing, even tune-up fights wind up on pay-per-view. I thought the undercard sucked.
“Gervonta fought a thinking man’s fight and boxed his way through the fight and slowly incrementally and eventually timed Hector Garcia, who, in my opinion, ended up quitting anyway. He didn’t want to continue.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with his eyesight with his vision. I just think he’d had enough. He took his payday. That money goes a long way in the Dominican Republic, and I think he took his payday and went home after the eighth, which is a shame.
“I didn’t think he boxed too badly. I think he had Gervonta thinking a lot. It did take on the impression of a sparring session. I think it was worthwhile work for Davis going into the Ryan Garcia fight.