By Norm Frauenheim
From outrage to silly, Ryan Garcia’s many sides have shown up on either side of the ropes and lots of other places.
There are so many roles, it’s hard to know what’s genuine, who’s real. Garcia has a mask for every opening bell. In a craft dictated by feints, it often works.
Along the way, he’s made fools out of opponents, fans, media and regulators.
Sometimes, he just makes a fool out of himself
That sets up a new stage. This time, however, who’s-fooling-who is more than just a question. It’s a theme, the inescapable drama, for his return next Saturday (July 21) against Mario Barrios in a DAZN-streamed bout from Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
The Ring, the promotional entity, calls the fight “High Stakes”, a fair enough marketing that suggests Devin Haney will be there for a rematch if Garcia prevails.
He’s expected to. He’s favored, but the odds (minus 225) are close, in part because of Garcia’s scorecard loss to Rolly Romero last May on a messy night at New York’s Times Square.
Garcia performed more like a guy trying to wave down a vacant cab than an elite fighter trying to land a punch in a fight that could have restored credibility badly damaged in a notorious New York night against Haney.
Eventually, a beat-down of Haney was ruled a no-contest because Garcia tested positive. Sometimes, masking doesn’t work. In his first fight – opportunity — since then, Garcia just looked disinterested.
Just another disguise, or a real look at what, who Garcia has become? Guess here: Narrow odds are also a fair reflection of the public perception of Garcia. Fans don’t know what to make of him, either.
High Stakes, perhaps, says more about him — his identity — than his future. If he fails against Barrios, his career is in crisis.
If he loses to Barrios, forget Haney, who might move on to a speculated shot at newly-minted junior-welterweight and pound-for-pound contender Shakur Stevenson. For this fight, fans will watch, knowing that only Garcia’s future is at stake.
Is that fair to Barrios? No. But fair and boxing, like jumbo and shrimp, don’t belong in the same sentence. Boxing is always a working definition for oxymoron.
Barrios, a nice guy in a notorious workplace, seems to understand his role in the looming show. He’s the B-side, which is the same bit-player role he had in a controversial draw with middle-aged celebrity Manny Pacquiao in July.
Garcia was there for that one too, reportedly engaging in some extracurricular exchanges on the arena floor after Barrios escaped with the draw.
Seven months later, the two would meet in the ring. Who knew? In a news conference dominated by Garcia last month, Barrios watched the show and reviewed it simply with perhaps the only trash talk he’s ever delivered. He called Garcia a clown.
“Payaso,’’ the proud Mexican-American said of Garcia who arrived on-stage with T-shirts, insults and his own dancing girls, all with ring cards mocking the World Boxing Council.
There’s more than just Bozo in the Spanish definition of clown. It could mean buffoon. It also could mean mischief, which, of course, has been a Garcia specialty. Expect some more.
For Barrios, a clown is what he hopes to make out of Garcia, who has been pretty good at doing that all by himself. In the process, Barrios hopes to put together a performance worthy of a shot at Haney in what would be a welterweight title-unification fight.
For now, there are just questions about Barrios’ path to the WBC’s version of the 147-pound belt.
He was awarded the belt without throwing a punch after Terence Crawford moved up, from welter to junior-middle for a victory over Israil Madrimov
Then, Barrios kept the title with two draws, the last one with Pacquiao and the first one against Abel Ramos.
Ramos, resilient and tireless, battled his way back and seemed to dominate Barrios throughout the final rounds on the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul show in November 2024.
Barros retained the belt, but didn’t answer gathering questions with a rematch. Ramos, of Casa Grande south of Phoenix, earned a shot, yet never got one.
More than a year later, Ramos makes his first appearance since then. Seven days after Garcia-Barrios, Ramos faces prospect Tahmir Smalls on the Emanuel Navarrete-Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez Feb. 28 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ.
Who’s fooling who? Maybe only time can answer that one. Garcia-Barrios is a fight for one.
