Tim Bradley Warns That Ryan Garcia is Setting a Bad Example
“King Ry” Ryan Garcia’s behavior during the build-up for his showdown against WBC junior welterweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney rubbed some people the wrong way. One of those who didn’t like how he portrayed himself is Hall of Fame Inductee Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr.
King Ry (25-1, 20KO) made it clear that while performing those bizarre and crazy antics, it was all an act. However, several fans and pundits believed his behavior was so far out of bounds that Garcia would pull out of the fight.
The Californian was open about smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol sometimes during training camp. To say he took things to a new level would be an understatement.
NO FAN OF INFLUENCERS
While speaking with Sean Zittell, Desert Storm explained that Garcia’s behavior could negatively influence the next generation of fighters.
“Think about this – Ryan is winning this fight, right? You have the next generation watching, and all these other kids from different sports watching what this dude is doing. What he is saying and how he’s moving.”
“You’re influencing all these kids to behave in that manner – ‘that’s how you’re supposed to do it’. I don’t like that. That’s just it. At the end of the day, I’m not a fan of that, at all.”
With his social media presence and mainstream appeal, Garcia has a lot of influence in and outside the boxing community. As a result, he has a certain amount of social capital and power. With that comes a large amount of responsibility. All Bradley is arguing is that there needs to be some accountability from King Ry.
NOT ENOUGH TO GET FULL RESPECT
The other side of Bradley’s argument is that some in the boxing community are heaping unwarranted praise on a fighter who has accomplished very little up to this point in his career.
“He is a decent fighter, I’m not going to lie. But he hasn’t accomplished anything in the sport . . . You beat Haney. Where are your titles at? You have no accolades. At the end of the day, you are going to be mentioned for the popularity. That’s it.”
“Congratulations, Ryan Garcia. Cool, you won the fight. Are you going to get credit from me? Very minimal credit from me.”
Facts are facts. Garcia’s only significant win of this career was against Haney. Outside of that, he flopped in the only signature fight of his career – a seventh-round defeat to multi-divisional champion Abdul Wahid, also known as Gervonta Davis, in April 2023. All the other fights on Garcia’s record have been against B and C-level competition.
Fans and blind supporters will accuse Bradley of being a curmudgeon and a hater. But the Hall of Famer has been around the track and knows this sport, inside and out. In his eyes, you need to do more than get attention and earn money to be considered an elite fighter. Bradley wants Garcia to continue to grow and be successful. But he doesn’t like how Garcia handles himself outside of the ring.
Be the first to comment