Somewhere between dropping Devin Haney and popping hot last year, Ryan Garcia was videoed shirtless, and rapping, in the front seat of his Mercedes as, alongside him, and picking occasionally from a bunch of grapes, a large orangutan sat grinning.
But not, err, singing.
Which is why, wonderfully, and while still dropping bars from Blessed, Highly Favoured — a song Garcia had released only months earlier about himself — this new face of boxing suddenly spun left and, tapping frantically on the shoulder of his mystery mate, urged “hey, hey, hey … join in, join in”.
And honestly, who would’ve been surprised if the monkey had?
Understanding for ‘King Ry’, there is seemingly no ceiling for the chaos.
Garcia vs Romero | SAT 3 MAY 8AM AEST | Ryan Garcia makes his highly anticipated return to the ring to face Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for the vacant WBA World Welterweight title in a stacked fight card in Times Square, New York. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Which isn’t exactly how, say, Muhammad Ali did things.
Or even Floyd Mayweather.
Although Mike Tyson, well, he once offered a Bronx zookeeper $10,000 to fight a gorilla.
And all because the then undefeated heavyweight king, while on some private New York tour with wife Robin Givens, believed he could see said Silverback, from inside its enclosure, bullying the others.
And had social media been a thing in 1986, well, you have to reckon that gorilla fight offer, along with so much else Tyson — think the walkouts, the pressers, even those three Bengal tigers — goes viral.
Same deal with so much surrounding Ali, who in his own way, and time, polarized.
This remember, was the Louisville Lip.
A fella who changed the world while also sledging Joe Frazier so ferociously during their trilogy, the latter would take until his death bed to find forgiveness.
But boxing has always loved itself a little crazy, right?
A truth proved by the likes of Money Mayweather, Tyson Fury, even Butterbean.
Or Conor McGregor, that fighting Irishman whose own penchant for madness – coupled with a ferocious left hook — was measured in a debut boxing purse of $50 million.
Which is why on the eve of this weekend’s incredible boxing blockbusters, you do wonder just how much Garcia and all the chaos enveloping him may eventually be worth?
Undeniably, ‘King Ry’ is the new, chaotic face of boxing.
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An undeniable crown prince – although some will argue clown prince – who returns to the ring this Saturday (AEST) after serving a year-long suspension following his shock win over Haney, which was later declared a no contest due to his small matter of testing positive for ostarine.
Wonderfully, the bout takes place in New York’s famed Times Square, and against Rolly Romero.
While Haney, who Garcia almost certainly rematches if both prove victorious, also features on a stacked card alongside WBO super lightweight king Teofimo Lopez, who himself defends against Arnold Barboza Jnr.
Better, all this also comes on a weekend where, Sunday, Canelo looks to become undisputed super middleweight king against William Scull while a day after that, Japanese megastar Naoya Inoue defends his own four titles in Las Vegas.
But as for where the greatest excitement lies?
Undeniably, King Ry.
And sure, there have been no orangutan duets this week.
Same as Garcia has undeniably dialed down on the insanity which, prior to his most recent Haney bout, saw the fighter forced into psychiatric testing, so erratic were his rants about aliens, Illuminati, even cancer being cured by fasting and black coffee.
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All of which, combined, appeared to be something of a public unravelling.
That, and had plenty calling for the Haney blockbuster to be abandoned.
But then – gasp — the kid went and dropped his star rival three times on the way to winning by decision, and as a 7-1 underdog.
All of this too, in a year where Garcia also left his wife, entered rehab, talked Jesus, of being ‘coked out’, then made racial slurs, and more, before receiving a WBC ban, teaming with that orangutan, and even enjoyed a brief engagement to Australia’s Savannah Bond (whose name you maybe shouldn’t Google at work).
But as for how much this Garcia chaos was a work?
A year on, nobody can really say.
Garcia vs Romero | SAT 3 MAY 8AM AEST | Ryan Garcia makes his highly anticipated return to the ring to face Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for the vacant WBA World Welterweight title in a stacked fight card in Times Square, New York. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
What we do know however is that the fighter definitely appears more subdued in this latest incarnation.
Indeed, while having spoken openly of his battles with mental health and depression, Garcia also has a strong grasp of social media, its power and, seemingly, how to sell casuals a boxing Pay-Per-View.
Which is why now on the eve of his latest comeback, the fight world is once again dialed in on this fella with an Instagram following of 12 million.
With a million more too, tuning in for those regular Twitter rants so chaotic, and at times previously, abhorrent, you’d reckon they were written in crayon.
And according to old blokes whose concerns lay not with growing social media profiles but ear hair, Garcia’s expanding popularity is largely a byproduct of the trainwreck times in which we all now live.
You know, a world where Jake Paul very nearly lands Canelo Alvarez, and off the back of besting exactly the type of Mike Tyson you expect, aged 58.
But rather than being some bizarre, new glitch in world sport, Garcia is simply the latest incarnation of boxing’s oldest constant.
Still, right across the US this week — and beyond — fight scribes have been charged with firing their laptops and ascertaining, if not what makes the fighter tick, then exactly where his head, heart and hands are at.
Yet in truth?
You’d be more hope fighting the bloke.
Which is no small claim considering the mercurial Californian, and fighter since age seven, has lost only one of 26 appearances – against Gervonta Davis, in 2023 – and is now one win removed from a blockbuster Haney rematch.
Like McGregor, Garcia backs his big mouth with a bigger left hook.
A truth proved only last April.
When after a build-up so troublesome many feared for the fighter’s life, he then went and dropped Haney three times before securing a decision win.
A win too of course, that came with no WBC crown.
Afterall, a day earlier Garcia had weighed in 1.4kg heavy.
Just as he popped hot for drugs.
Garcia vs Romero | SAT 3 MAY 8AM AEST | Ryan Garcia makes his highly anticipated return to the ring to face Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for the vacant WBA World Welterweight title in a stacked fight card in Times Square, New York. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Which is why, with all respect to that grape-eating orangutan, that Mercedes rap session doesn’t make even the podium for Garcia craziness this past year.
Which again, simply makes him the latest incarnation of boxing’s oldest tale.
Albeit, one that appears to be enjoying yet another twist.
Quizzed on his past year by American journalist Ariel Helwani, and the fact he now seems less unhinged, Garcia this week talked not only of a new mindset for fighting, or a more Christian outlook on life, but of having touched no alcohol since before even camp began.
Sure, he revealed, the craziness had worked last time out.
Seemingly, a nod to those convinced Garcia carries method amid the madness.
“I just have a whole different mindset this time around,” the fighter revealed.
“I’ve kind of just prepared myself as you would a professional boxer.
“You gotta be professional.
“You gotta be on point with everything if you want to be the best fighter in the world.
“So [while the other way] worked for me once, you can’t keep doing that, you can’t sustain that.”
Any regrets regarding his behaviour prior to the first fight?
“It’s just part of my story,” he continued.
“It’s one of those moments where I was just kind of dealing with whatever I was dealing with.
“But honestly, I don’t really regret anything.
“I don’t regret nothing in my life.
“I just take everything as ‘OK, learn from that moment’.
“That’s not the way to go, that’s not the way I want to represent myself, but I don’t really like to say ‘regret’.”
But like with all things Garcia, there is grey in that statement, too.
“With this day and age, everybody’s saying a lot of crazy s***,” Garcia said.
“You see all the streamers saying whatever they want.
“It’s just kind of the day and age we’re in.
“But it’s not the way I want to go about how I handle myself.
“That’s just the generation we live in — everybody’s saying stupid s*** and for a long time people said stupid s*** about me.
“And I played the game they were playing.
“And I guess I played it too hard.
“At the end of the day, I just don’t want to go down that route though.
“I just kind of want to keep myself more professional and be the best fighter I can be, and not get caught up in that trolling game.
“Do I regret any of that? Of course.
“There’s a lot of stupid s*** you say.
“Everybody around you, you and your boys, if everybody was with you guys, recording every conversation, you’re going to say some stupid s***.
“So yeah, in that regard, I do regret it … a lot of people look up to me.”
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