Ryan Garcia quickly pulled out of a fight with Devin Haney after linking up with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
The move was a bolt out of the blue that even his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, wasn’t aware of when attending Vergil Ortiz’s comeback.
Ryan Garcia joins the Floyd Mayweather Protection Program
Garcia announced his decision on social media, which was met with responses that the super lightweight star had joined the ‘Mayweather Protection Program.’
The MPP is a term coined by detractors of Mayweather. Those who use it say Mayweather makes strategic moves for himself and his fighters to the detriment of the fans.
However, in defense of Mayweather, others state the former pound-for-pound champion is a smart businessman.
Mayweather was seen running beside Garcia in Nevada during Golden Boy’s first fight week of the year. After questions about the situation with his current trainer, Derrick James, Garcia explained his link-up with the five-weight king.
“Floyd is mentoring me. I love and respect him. He is so authentic, so stop judging him,” said Garcia. “Judging a book by its cover will stop you from reading, but Derrick James is my coach, and I love him too.”
He added: “You guys don’t know him, and most of you will never. But he is authentic, has a good heart, and is extremely generous.
“Stop playing with him. He will always win. He’s 50-0 and almost half a hundred [in the sport]. I love and respect him, so I put respect on his name.
“He may be money Mayweather, but he tries to be as authentic as possible.”
Haney vs Garcia is off
A day later, Garcia told Haney his plans via a post on his channels.
“I’ve notified my team I’m going a different route. I intend to fight Rolando Romero,” confirmed ‘KingRy.’
“I pray my team backs me on this decision. Oscar, k this fight happen.”
Sounding like Mayweather, he added: “That’s the move. A bigger fight and bigger business.”
Haney wasn’t happy when replying to Garica. However, Garcia was gracious enough to offer Haney an alternative opponent.
“After what happens to Rollies, the Haney fight will be there and even bigger. Everyone is critiquing now. They will end up seeing it was a better move.
“Plus, he can go fight Richardson Hitchens. Do your 30k PPV buys. I don’t need you, Dev, you need me.
“This is how you deal with people not on your level in every way.”
Fighter Mykal Fox then responded to Garcia by saying the decision was a clear duck.
“This is the second time he’s avoided a fight with Devin in the pros,” pointed out Fox.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
