The sports world continues to react to Ryan Garcia‘s stunning upset victory over Devin Haney on Saturday night, a match that has upended boxing and stripped the favored Haney of his WBC super lightweight title. The 12-round majority decision in favor of Garcia has made him a superstar — and has elicited immediate comparisons to Mike Tyson, whose exhibition bout with Jake Paul this summer is already highly anticipated.
Tyson and Garcia appear cut from a similar cloth — both are ferocious in the ring, and both seem to be magnets for controversy outside of it. Tyson has long been polarizing character, especially following his 1992 conviction and subsequent incarceration for rape, while Garcia is coming into his own as boxing’s newest showman and star attraction.
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Garcia’s history of “wild behavior”
Perhaps the main reason why so few observers predicted that Garcia would defeat Haney is because Garcia’s behavior — online and offline — over the past year has been nothing short of unpredictable, if not concerning.
Garcia’s mental health was called into question before and after the fight against Haney. Following his victory at Barclays Center, Garcia confirmed that he smoked and drank alcohol liberally while preparing to fight his former amateur rival, leading some to question his professionalism even in the wake of his shock victory.
Garcia and his entourage taunted Haney throughout the buildup to the highly-anticipated bout, all while Garcia’s personal life was in turmoil — leading to more and more interest in the California native’s mindset. Garcia had to reassure fans last month that he was not dead after social media rumors speculated that he had had his “throat slit,” while other posts on X (formerly Twitter) slammed platform owner Elon Musk and seemed to embrace conspiracy theories about demons, UFOs, and human trafficking.
Garcia is already set for a second marriage following his January divorce from Andrea Celina, as Australian porn star Savannah Bond accepted the boxer’s proposal days before the Haney bout. In addition, Garcia has recently been kicked out of the New York Mets‘ Citi Field on a day in which he was slated to throw a ceremonial first pitch and has been open about his marijuana habit — he was seen smoking cannabis hours before Saturday’s fight.
It all means that Garcia is emerging as this generation’s Tyson, a colorful character in and out of the ring who draws attention wherever he goes and whatever he does. Like Tyson during his 1990s heyday, everyone wants to see what Garcia’s next move is after his win over Haney in Brooklyn.
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