Ryan Garcia is so confident in his upcoming bout against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on Saturday at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, he’s already looking ahead to his next face-off. The boxer, who has over 9 million followers on Instagram, spoke to HollywoodLife.com in an EXCLUSIVE interview ahead of the highly anticipated fight to dish on his next target, mental health and social media. When it comes to who he plans to meet in the ring next, Ryan called out Devin Haney, telling HL, “I think Devin Haney is a great fighter. I fought him so many times in the amateurs, and I think it’s time.”
Ryan continued, “I tell people I choose to fight the best. I choose to do it now, and I plan to be a man of my word. I think Devin Haney is the next great fighter after Tank Davis…I’m going to hold myself to it and go after Devin Haney.” The Garcia vs. Davis fight is being called the “biggest fight of the year” and the “fight to save boxing,” and the two certainly delivered the drama when they vowed to “break each other’s jaws” in the midst of their final weigh in.
“I just know that I’m not going to lose,” Ryan confidently told HL. His social media presence is one that has earned him great popularity and even an ambassadorship with Dior, but also helped him discover the importance in speaking out about his mental health struggle. “I’ve seen some people I know close to me, take their life and things like that happening all around the world, you see so many people hurting because of the bad side of social media hurts people, people are hurting. And if you could just give them hope and give them your experiences, maybe that’s going to give somebody a shortcut to the peace I found,” he said. ” I went through the fire, I went through the mental warfare and I came back a stronger person, a more empathetic person for people all around me. And I love everybody now because you don’t know what somebody’s going through by first glance. And it’s definitely gave my heart a more understanding of everybody else.”
Ryan continued, “I want to be always be an advocate for mental health and to show that it’s just as bad as a broken arm or a twisted ankle. We’ve got to address it and we got to be kind to each other and spread love.”
The currently undefeated fighter added that he will “never let the world control [him]” and he will “always choose to speak up” and not let a “stereotype” control him. “I know what’s in my heart. I’m a good guy, and I kick ass. That’s it. I kick ass, come at me, talk all you want about me — I’m a pretty boy, an Instagram fighter — I’m serving what I got to serve. I know what’s right and I do it, and I hold myself accountable and I’m strong. I’m going to show you I’m tough when I’m in there.”
Ryan Garcia faces off against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on Saturday April 22nd at 8 PM ET. The card will stream live on DAZN PPV in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand live from the T. Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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