The retired fighter turned pundit Paulie Malignaggi has so far not been impressed with Ryan Garcia and has now sounded off on the young fighter saying ‘they will beat your ass”
Garcia – who has recently been seen hanging out with Floyd Mayweather – is a divisive fighter and hugely popular social media star who courts attention with his every move.
A matter of weeks ago, he publicly announced he was in negotiations for a fight with Devin Haney, but that soon broke down and he then decided to go after for WBA super-lightweight champion Rolando Romero, who beat Ismael Barroso in his last fight in May 2023.
Garcia’s best win to date arguably came over former Olympian Luke Campbell three years ago now, and since then he has stepped up against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in April last year only to be stopped with a fearsome body shot in the seventh round.
He has also had his own private battles with mental health, as well as more public spats with his promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
Speaking on ProBox TV, Malignaggi questioned Garcia’s desire to be in boxing at all.
“I don’t think he wants to be there. He’s made lots of money, he’s comfortable, he’s a social media star. Those kind of opponents – the Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez’s of the world, they don’t care about your fame. They will beat your ass. They are on that level.”
Malignaggi then addressed Garica’s perceived sense of entitlement to even be involved in conversations with the top guys in his weight class.
“You have never won a world title. You’ve never even been in a world title fight and he’s talking about champions like he’s among them. He’s a star because of his social media presence.”
Should Garcia get the fight with Romero and win, he would go a long way to silencing his doubters.