By Huck Allen: Paulie Malignaggi isn’t quite sure about Ryan Garcia’s mentality going into what could be a grueling fight where he’d need to get in the trenches to defeat Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in their proposed fight in April.
Malignaggi says he’s only seen the 24-year-old Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) in a tough fight once in which he had to get up off the deck to defeat Luke Campbell in 2021, but then after that, he “disappeared,” which suggests that he was frightened by the experience and didn’t want to risk having that happen again.
Malignaggi feels that Tank (28-0, 26 KOs) is more willing to get in the trenches in a tough fight in which he’s hurt than Ryan, who seems to be all over the place outside of the ring.
In Malignaggi’s mind, he’s not sure if Ryan is 100% dialed into boxing, as he’s got a lot of things going on in which he comes across as a Youtuber, fashion model, groupie to the Paul brothers, and a commercial guy.
With everything Ryan has going on, boxing seems more like a hobby to him than something he’s fully dedicated to, and he’s taking a social influencer approach to the sport, making it difficult to separate him from the likes of Youtubers Jake Paul, Logan Paul & KSI at times.
“We’ll see if the Ryan Garcia fight gets made in the spring,” said Paulie Malignaggi to ESNEWS about the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia match that still needs to be negotiated for April.
“I think Gervonta has more dog in him. I think Ryan has the physical attributes to beat Gervonta, but I don’t know if he has the mindset to beat Gervonta.
“Gervonta, from what I gather of him, is more willing to be in that trench fight [than Ryan]. Even if you hurt him, he’s willing to be in there. I know Ryan got up off the canvas to stop Luke Campbell, but then he kind of disappeared after that. It’s almost like the fight scared him.
“I’m not quite sure about Ryan’s mentality. I haven’t seen enough of it to know that it’s bonafide and it’s legit. I know that Gervonta’s mentality is bonafide and legit. He’s been in there and been in a dog fight. Against guys like Pitbull, he fought. He was behind against Rolly, but stayed calm and knocked him out.
“He got this win [against Hector Garcia] in a tactical affair and got a knockout against [Jose] Pedraza. I think his reputation is bonafide. I think if things get tough, he knows what to do.
“I do lean more towards Gervonta, but I do say that Ryan has the tools to win the fight. It’s just a matter of his mindset, which I really can’t really predict because I don’t know enough about him. I don’t think anybody can really know Ryan’d mindset.
“He’s a boxer today; he’s a fashion model tomorrow; he’s a commercial guy another day; he’s a Youtuber the next day. He’s hanging around like a groupie with the Paul brothers the day after that. So, I don’t know. I do think he’s a good fighter and has potential, so we’ll see,” said Malignaggi.