Oscar De La Hoya revealed that Ryan Garcia admitted to him he’s “trolling” the public in the promotion for his fight against WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney on April 20th on DAZN PPV. It’s a deliberate strategy by Ryan. De La Hoya says he told Ryan, “Just be ready.”
When Inspiration Fails, Act Insane
Ryan wants to deliberately troll the public, which he’s been doing since the New York press conference last month on February 27th.
Before that, Ryan’s behavior was normal. His transformation into the unhinged persona he had adopted started during that New York press conference, which suggests that this is his scheme to attract attention to his fight without doing the hard work of planning what to say.
In other words, it is a lazy way of promoting a fight by acting crazy. We saw Teofimo Lopez use this approach during the promotion of his fight with Josh Taylor in June of last year. It’s a lazy way to avoid coming up with something interesting to say. It’s kind of pathetic and sad.
If You Can’t Dazzle with Brilliance, Confuse with Crazy
In Teofimo’s case, he’s not a deep thinker, so you can argue this was a way for him to avoid not having to prepare for interviews and press conferences. To promote a fight properly, fighters must come up with witty things to say to the media. Instead of doing that, Teofimo acted like he’d gone mental.
Now, Ryan is doing the same thing, and it’s dumb. If he’s too lazy to say things to the media, he needs to hire a public relations expert to plan things for him and help him brainstorm ahead of interviews and press conferences. Following Teofimo’s ‘act crazy’ blueprint is such a waste of time.
Oscar: Exasperation Masked as Enthusiasm
“That’s his style, that’s his way,” De La Hoya deadpans. “I don’t talk to him every single day, but from what I’ve seen when he’s in the gym, he’s looking sharp. He’s looking ready, and he’s looking fit,” said De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV about Ryan Garcia.
Poor De La Hoya. He’s left trying to put a positive spin on Ryan’s mess and make it seem like it’s a good thing. Not even he can do that.
“I’ll never forget the time he told me, ‘I’m going to do the biggest troll in the world.’ I don’t know what that means, but I guess he did it,” said De La Hoya. “I guess he’s doing it. All I do is promote the fight and make sure April 20th is successful for everybody.”
Oscar seems to have reached his limit in trying to understand Ryan’s antics. He accepts them, but he looks weary of the mess he’s creating daily.
Ryan: “I’m Trolling”
“I can assure you one thing: Ryan Garcia will be ready—even more so than for his other fights,” said De La Hoya. “There’s no rehydration clause; you’ve got to think about that. Imagine that. Yeah, he’ll be in tip-top shape.”
De La Hoya assures us that Ryan at least looks good in the gym, which further signals that he’s ruining his promotion with his crazy act.
“He said, ‘Yeah, I’m trolling’ or whatever, and I was like, ‘Okay, just do what you have to do. I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re doing,’ I did tell him one thing. ‘Just be ready. Just go out there and be ready. You have all the talent in the world. You have what it takes to be great. Go out there on April 20th and take care of business,'” said De La Hoya.
“He goes, ‘I’m going to knock him out.’ Alright. So, when he told me, I believed it, so I’m going to expect it,” said De La Hoya about Ryan Garcia.