Next month’s lightweight clash between Devin Haney and Garcia is now in doubt after the New York State Athletic Commission requested Kingry have a mental evaluation ahead of the April 20th contest on DAZN PPV.
The New York Commission’s move to have the 25-year-old Ryan’s mental health evaluated is believed to be due to his recent posts on social media, with some of it being bizarre. Thus far, Ryan is refusing to be evaluated and is threatening legal action.
Ryan and the New York State Commission have reached an impasse. If Ryan continues to refuse the mental evaluation, it’s possible that his fight with Haney won’t occur on April 20th.
The Commission’s job is to ensure the fighters’ safety, and they obviously can’t ignore Ryan’s recent strange social media posts, particularly the threat of biting Haney during their upcoming fight.
What caught the attention of many boxing fans was Ryan Garcia’s comment about wanting to bite the ears of WBC light welterweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs). Obviously, a threat like that can’t be ignored. If Ryan goes through with his threat of harming Haney, it would reflect badly on the Commission for not having him evaluated.
Garcia Cries Foul, Threatens Lawsuit
“The NYC Commission, they’re trying to challenge me for a mental evaluation,” said Ryan Garcia on social media. “I said, ‘Okay, what is your premise for the mental evaluation?’ ‘Well, your Tweets and your posts.’ I said, ‘Is it not my mental constitutional right to have free speech?’
“So, because I’m Tweeting what I’m Tweeting, that’s a premise for a mental evaluation? Huh, that’s curious. So, now you’re trying to mess with my constitutional rights. Now, I’m going to sue you. I’m going to sue you for defamation of character actually. They won’t test Mike Tyson if he fought in New York, but they will test me. It sounds a little fishy to me, but I love Mike, and Mike loves me.
“I cannot wait for them [NYC Commission] to actually take me to court because I will literally defeat them,” said Ryan.
