By Anthony George – When looking at the upcoming showdown between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia on April 20^th at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, I thought about the polarizing figure, called King Ry. Since I love boxing more than most things, I began to wonder if Ryan was indeed good or bad for the sport of boxing. Looking at it through a critical lens, the answer is more complex than a closed-ended answer. Ryan is a complicated onion that creates a paradox regardless of the answer. Anyone who examines this question objectively can make a case for both yes and no.

On the one hand, Ryan Garcia is perfect for boxing. He has a substantial following on social media that manifests into butts in the arena and eyeballs to the streams. How can that be a negative? Also, Ryan has proven he is not bashful about challenging the best. How many other fighters with Ryan’s clout can claim they signed up to fight two juggernauts, such as Tank Davis and The Dream? Tank himself cannot make that claim, and if you want to get real, neither can Bud Crawford, everyone’s favorite P4P darling.

Ryan also has better-than-average boxing ability, provides good action fights, and can fight a little bit. He has an 83% KO percentage in his wins, and his only blemish is against Tank when he was stopped in the 7th round. To hold a stoppage loss against Tank against him is like saying Greg Maddux was not a great pitcher because he never struck out Tony Gwynn in 107 at-bats.

On the other hand, Ryan is the last thing boxing needs. A social media eyesore who takes away big paydays from fighters who have earned their dues more in the ring. Since he lost to Davis, Ryan has done nothing with his fists to earn a WBC super lightweight title shot. The WBC generously ranks him 6th in that weight class. The much more reputable Transnational Boxing Rankings does not have Garcia in the top ten.

Garcia managed to sign up for a big fight against Haney primarily because of his antics outside of the ring. Which is wrong. And what he does on social media is, what is it they say today, cringe? When he is not fighting, Garcia acts as a buffoon. A poor role model that would have resulted in nothing substantial in terms of boxing paydays even ten years ago. However, we live in a world where such antics can help you reach the Oval Office.

Therefore, what is the harm in taking the same route to earn boxing paydays? Well, it hurts guys like Sandor Martin, Gary Antuanne Russell, and even Richardson Hitchens, who are all ranked ahead of Ryan in the WBC but do not come close to the public cachet that Ryan has a stranglehold on. Team Haney probably sees all those guys as much more troublesome than Garcia as a fighter and would not come close to the dollar signs a fight with Ryan will produce. It is not good for the sport when you can earn more by doing less in the ring.

Whichever side you are on, the true answer regarding Ryan Garcia being good or bad for boxing will best be answered by the action in the ring on Aril 20th in Brooklyn. If Haney pounds him the same way Tank did, Ryan’s act should be considered played out. We would have our answer. Buyer beware, however, as chances are, all Ryan would need to do to get another big fight is win one fight against the likes of Oscar Duarte Jurado, combined with more social media antics. He might even be able to land an MMA showdown with Sugar Sean O’Malley. After all, that same Orange Buffon is an election away from another trip to the Oval. When in Rome.

However, if Ryan wins, or even is competitive against Haney, losing a close decision or hurting Haney at any point, then Ryan would have proven that he belongs where it counts, inside the squared circle.

Having said that, with the mentality of most boxing fans today, any success King Ry might have against Haney would probably bring more shade to The Dream rather than praise for Ryan. That is just how the majority rolls in boxing.

This is not unique to fans today, however. It is just magnified more because of social media. Indeed, anytime a boxer got hurt in the past, anytime a boxer got knocked down in the past, anytime a boxer lost or had any type of struggle in the past, or was in a boring fight, for the most part, the first thought amongst fans was that the boxer was ‘exposed,’ rather than giving credit to their opponent.

Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia should be a fight we are looking forward to. It will provide more clarity on either the effectiveness or the harm that is Ryan Garcia and should make for great conversation regardless of the outcome. Sports need conversation to survive. But should boxing fans be talking about Ryan?

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