Ryan Garcia: from social media megastar to potential world champion boxer

On April 20th, 2024, Social media megastar Ryan Garcia will fight Devin 'The Dream' Haney for Haney's WBC Super lightweight belt in Brooklyn, New York.

Haney is undefeated in the ring with a perfect record of 31 wins and zero losses, including 15 knockouts. In comparison, Garcia has a record of 24 wins and one loss, including 20 knockouts, according to Matchroom Boxing.

Boxing News 24/7 reports the fight may not go ahead because of Garcia's erratic behavior and comments outside of the ring that include rants about aliens and the very serious issue of human trafficking.

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No one is certain why Garcia has been acting erratically online, but it could be to sell the fight due to the low demand for tickets and the poor Pay Per View draw Haney has.

Garcia is no stranger to selling fights and keeping his name relevant in the media, having cultivated a huge social media presence in the early part of his career.

Without winning a world championship belt, Ryan Garcia is the third most followed active boxer on Instagram (10.5 million) behind world champions Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua, according to Instagram.

As reported by Forbes, Garcia became the first professional boxer to utilize the social media space to gain fans and help his boxing career, regularly collaborating with influencers such as Addison Rae and Dixie D'Amelio on his TikTok profile.

Across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X, Garcia has just under 20 million followers, putting him second to Floyd Mayweather for most followed boxer. In a culture desperate for short-form content, his rapid fighting and knockout style is perfect for the internet.

Unlike novice boxers like Jake Paul and KSI, Garcia had class and pedigree in the sport before social media, winning 15 national Championships while amassing an amateur record of 215 wins and 15 losses, Bleacher Report states.

Garcia told Bleacher Report: "I put my whole heart into boxing. If you look at my social media, everything is involved with boxing. I became big because I posted about boxing."

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Until 2021, Garcia couldn't gain the respect of true boxing fans because he hadn't fought a champion, but on January 2nd, 2021, Garcia faced Olympic Gold Medallist Luke Campbell.

According to the Tapology website, Garcia silenced his critics by delivering a devastating blow to Campbell's liver to win the fight in round seven.

Since beating Campbell, 'King Ryan' has been on a mission to deliver the biggest fights and try to 'revive' boxing and win a world championship, as he told Bloomberg.

In April 2023, Garcia fought the undefeated three-division world champion Gervonta Davis, but unfortunately lost after being struck by a body shot to register the first loss of his career.

Since then, Garcia has got back on track with a win against Oscar Duarte in December 2023, but all sights are set for his fight against Devin Haney.

Will Ryan Garcia become a world champion on April 20th, or are the likes of Haney and Gervonta Davis on another level?

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