The outside world is no place for the demons of Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia’s own reflection must be awfully difficult to look at and his mind, supposedly bent out of shape by drugs and alcohol, the darkest of places to inhabit.

The sympathy one naturally felt for Garcia, even as he claimed innocence regarding the two performance-enhancing drug test failures that forever ruined his greatest victory, is now all but impossible to sustain. The grotesque dialogue he’s uttered in recent days – the worst of which wishing George Floyd back from the dead so he could be killed again – is yet another uncensored exhibition of social media at its most repulsive. 

Garcia’s own attempts at explanations on social media (where else?) are unlikely to pacify those who are rightly and deeply offended. “God knows my heart and how I would protect black children till the day I die. I was speaking against black on black crime. They took everything out of context.”

It is perhaps ironic that his fixation with those channels that made him an online sensation is now unravelling his image with astonishing haste. He might claim to have used them to his advantage – the Instagrams, the Xs, the gardens of egos – in the build-up to his titanic triumph over Devin Haney as he painted a picture of a lunatic so unsteady it was perplexing that the fight was allowed to go ahead. When he then won one of the most memorable contests of the year, as recently as 11 weeks ago, presumptions were made that he’d been fooling us all along. The seismic collapse of his reputation from that moment strongly suggests otherwise, however. 

Tonight, while offering rambling apologies, he has promised to go to rehab.

Yet even when one reads his posts that invite indefensible accusations of racism, and to reproduce them word-for-word here would only amplify their jarring spite, it feels wrong to label him the devil and condemn him to hell, simply because the end of his story seems destined to be the worst chapter of the lot. Ignorance would now seem favourable to passing judgement because paying further attention would be akin to taking part.

“I’m definitely not happy to see the kid crashing out,” Bill Haney, father and trainer of Devin, said of Garcia today. “I always try to be as optimistic as I can, as just a human being, as I hope everyone could be with me at my most trying times. These are the times that having a dad who has been there on the roller coaster with you, the ups and downs, that their voice is loud and vocal [when you’re] at the top as well as when you’ve hit rock bottom.

“But there is no place for that kind of talk, particularly when it’s directed in the way that it’s been directed. There’s just no place for it.

“I think he should get help and that’s it. I don’t believe in kicking a man while they’re down. The people around him should step up and be held accountable and speak loud. They should be just as happy that they can be there for Ryan during these kind of times. This is when you see what kind of team you’ve got.”

Plenty won’t be able to forgive and nor should they. How can the words he published even exist in his mind if he is, as so many say, a great guy at heart. Further, it’s too disrespectful to those he’s hurt the most to brush it all off as a cry for help, even if that likely remains the crux of his behaviour. 

George Floyd’s friend, Stephen Jackson, had a message for Garcia today: “You need to get some help, bro, because we don’t play by the same rules that you play by in that ring, I’m telling you,” he said. “Just like I told you in a DM, I told you to get some help because it’s a whole different ball game out here, bro. Anybody that has to bring up the dead is dying inside. You a clout chaser. You looking for attention, you trying to live a life that you didn’t grow up in. You’re not that, Ryan. You’re a boxer. Stick to that. Keep George Floyd’s name out of your mouth.”

Garcia’s parents have again promised to put a stop to their son’s behaviour. Yet only he can now do that.  

“Our son has recently made statements that do not align with his, or our family’s true character or beliefs,” they said in a statement. “Our family unequivocally does not support any statements he has made regarding race or religion – these do not reflect who Ryan truly is or how he was raised. 

“Those who know Ryan can attest to this fact. Ryan has been open about his ongoing struggle with mental health over the years and as a family we are committed to ensuring and encouraging that he receives the necessary help to navigate this very challenging time and address both his immediate and long-term well-being. We appreciate the continued support, prayers and compassion.”

Garcia’s need for privacy has indeed never been greater. Though it is his choice to make his demons public, the outside world is no place for them.