NFL superstar Antonio Brown claims Ryan Garcia’s odd behavior during the build-up to his fight with Devin Haney is CTE-related.
Whether joking or not, Brown posted his thoughts and tagged Garcia to tell him exactly how he felt.
CTE is currently a hot topic in football and boxing due to several instances of participants in both sports going off the rails or committing heinous acts. Brown’s decision to put Garcia in that bracket is questionable.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a progressive degenerative disease affecting people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, that may occur in some athletes and others who have been exposed to concussions and repetitive head impacts,” according to the Indiana University School of Medicine.
CTE reportedly affects athletes’ decision-making and behavior due to excessive blows to the head and big hits. Garcia hasn’t taken too many punches during his career. Therefore, putting him in that bracket is a hash one at best.
Garcia is the talk of boxing through his pre-fight antics, which some are worried may not be an act. Many believe the fight should get called off if that’s the case.
When asked about canceling the fight in an interview with DAZN, De La Hoya admitted he did not fully understand what Garcia was doing.
“He’s Ryan. He’s unique. He’s his own person, and he does what he does. Everybody tells me, ‘Can’t you control him?’ I’m not his babysitter, I’m not his manager, I’m his promoter, and we put the events together.
“When Ryan tells me, ‘I’m trolling,’ I don’t know if I should believe him or not.”
Those words come from a promoter who told the media at the weigh-in that Garcia may have intentionally missed weight. “Remember Floyd Mayweather vs Marquez,” said the Golden Boy Chairman.
In 2009, Mayweather agreed to face Marquez at 144 pounds but subsequently weighed 146 pounds on the scales. He took the fine and dominated Marquez, looking much bigger in the ring on fight night.
Yesterday’s performance and the previous day’s press conference bet may also have another side to the story. According to ex-World Boxing News writer Dan Rafael, Garcia did not have to pay $1.5m following a wager for missing weight by three pounds.
Rafael says the fee was $600,000 plus a portion of the Pay Per View upside.
Read all articles and learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor Phil Jay. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
