WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney’s title defense against social media star Ryan Garcia reportedly has a ton of unsold tickets remaining for their headliner on April 20th, making some believe that the over-the-top hype, crazy talk by Kingry and Dev’s lack of charisma might be dragging down interest. The tickets on Ticketmaster.com are collecting dust also due to their overly-priced and hyped match
The build-up for Devin vs. Garcia has been a complete circus from day one, with Garcia acting insane and Haney like a potted plant. Fans realize there’s no substance behind this match.
Bad Match, Bad Location
Staging the Haney vs. Ryan fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, wasn’t exactly the smartest thing the event organizers could have done, considering Garcia is from California and Devin is a Las Vegas fighter.
Did the event organizers think Ryan & Devin’s fans would fly across the country to see this fight in New York? Do you know how expensive that is?
Their collective fanbases are on the other side of the U.S., and New Yorkers aren’t big followers of these two.
All Talk, No Ticket Sales
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) holds the WBC 140-lb title, but he’s got about as much charisma as a turnip. Asking Devin to entertain the fans and create excitement and drama in the build-up to his April 20th fight is a mistake. Mr. 30K can’t do it.
And Ryan? His loyal fanbase of teenagers isn’t showing up to purchase tickets, which could indicate that they’ve become disillusioned with him after his mental meltdown.
They won’t worship someone and pay to see them if they suspect they are mentally not there. Some think Ryan is trying too hard, going overboard with trash-talking and cracked-sounding conspiracy theories that have nothing to do with boxing.
This shows that Ryan and Haney aren’t PPV attractions without a bonafide star like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Ryan has 11 million followers on social media, but these are teenagers who come to read his posts and stare at his pictures.
They’re not boxing fans who will pay to watch Ryan, especially when it’s $70 in a fight they even know he can’t win.