Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is pleased with the hard work and discipline Ryan Garcia is showing in training camp for his mega-fight against Devin Haney on April 20th.
De La Hoya acknowledges that he doesn’t know what’s going in the 25-year-old Ryan Garcia’s mind, but he’s seeing that he’s putting in the effort in preparation to unseat WBC light welterweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) in their 12-round headliner on DAZN PPV at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Ryan has come across to some people as being mentally unstable, unraveling, and showing signs of crumbling inwardly with his focus on different causes that he has. He seems more interested in other people’s lives and behavior than his own.
He’s seemingly losing himself, forgetting about his profession due to his preoccupation with the lives of others. Ryan needs to be more self-interested, putting his energy into his profession.
A Renewed Focus
“I’m not a doctor; I’m a promoter. I was a fighter. I don’t understand what’s going on up here [in Ryan’s head]. I can’t read his mind, but what I’m seeing now, what he’s showing us now is a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype about Ryan Garcia in his preparation for his challenge against WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney on April 20th.
The hard work that De La Hoya is referring to is the leaked sparring video of Ryan this week, showing him in top form in working out.
What’s unclear is this was just a momentary thing for him rather than the norm. Some people who lose focus on something they were once good at can still look brilliant when they briefly return to what they were doing.
“I told him, ‘That’s exactly what people want to see from you is train, is fight, and do what you do best,” said De La Hoya about Ryan. “If you want to get on your phone after the fight, then so be it, but when you’re training, you’re staying focused,’ and that’s what he’s doing.
De La Hoya Predicts Ryan Goes for Early Knock Out
“He gets it. I respect him because it’s not easy being in his shoes. It’s a lot of pressure, but he gets it. On April 20th, I will not be surprised if he comes out and tries to knock out Devin Haney in four or five rounds,” said De La Hoya.
Ryan will obviously for an early knockout, but it’s going to take a lot of patience on his part for him to carry that off because Haney will be making things difficult for him.
