Boxing great Andre Ward suggested that Ryan Garcia go zero-dark-thirty on social media after posting a long string of frantic Tweets leading up to his light welterweight title bout against Devin Haney.
Ward questioned why Garcia was posting so much rather than focusing on his training. The future Hall-of-Famer was also alarmed by what Garcia was revealing to the public.
From experience, the 40-year-old boxing analyst saw Garcia’s tirade as damaging to his fight. Ward offered sound wisdom to the 25-year-old pugilist and social media sensation at a time where he may have needed to hear it the most.
Andre Ward implored Ryan Garcia’s camp to reel him in
Ward spoke with TMZ Sports on Saturday about the highly-anticipated bout.
When asked if Garcia’s apparent meltdown was a reason for him to back out of fighting Haney on April 20, Ward took a more combative stance:
“That ain’t time for self-care, that’s not time for counseling, that’s time to get ready for war,” Ward proclaimed.
The former two-division world champion didn’t like seeing Garcia exploit his own vulnerabilities in Tweets such as this:
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YUP PEOPLE ARE LEAVING ME BC OF THE HATE AND PAIN OF A LONG HISTORY OF HURT 😞
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) March 6, 2024
Garcia didn’t wholly play the victim. He also touched on many topics unrelated to the fight, including conspiracy theories and world conflicts.
Nonetheless, Ward recognized a sense of franticness from the former lightweight champion. He ultimately looked out for his best interest, professing that he’d be praying for the knockout artist before giving more sound advice:
“It’s enough to be dealing with it and struggling with it as is,” he continued, “but then you gon’ let the whole world in on your struggle. It’s not always a wise thing to do.”
The Showtime Boxing commentator, like the rest of the boxing world, wants to see an epic fight go down between Garcia and Haney. The lead up to a fight is where opponents try to gain psychological advantages over one another through trash talk.
Garcia may have handed Haney another prop to damage his confidence before entering the squared circle later this spring.
