Canelo Alvarez on Ryan Garcia: 'As His Friend, I Wouldn’t Let Him Fight'
Mar 20, 2024 • 9:58 PM ET
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has trained with Ryan Garcia, befriended him as a mentor and recently watched him from a distance.
Alvarez is concerned.
In a behind-the-scenes Tuesday conversation with DAZN’s Claudia Trejos before a news conference to promote his own May 4 pay-per-view bout against Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia, Alvarez said he hopes Garcia “has people to help him.”
“And as his friend, or like when we used to train together,” Alvarez said, “I wouldn’t let him fight.”
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) is scheduled to attempt his second bid to become a world champion April 20 against unbeaten 140-pound world champion Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) at Barclays Center in New York.
But a series of erratic behaviors and social media posts have triggered alarms that Garcia, who has previously taken a break from boxing to address his mental health, isn’t fit for such a demanding event.
Garcia previously trained alongside Alvarez under trainer Eddy Reynoso in San Diego. Alvarez took on a big brother role with Garcia, who ultimately left the gym to train under Joe Goossen. He now trains in Texas with Derrick James.
Alvarez has seen Garcia’s odd rants.
“The only thing I wish right now is that he has people to help him, because he needs it – without judging him,” Alvarez told Trejos. “I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I hope he has someone.”
Garcia promoter Oscar De La Hoya said later Tuesday that he’s planning a visit with Garcia in Texas to check on his progress.
“As you see, posting his boxing videos, he looks in great shape … with his speed and his power and his conditioning,” De La Hoya said. “I haven’t been in his gym. I’m not a doctor. I’m his promoter. I don’t understand what’s going on [in his head]. I can’t read his mind. But what I’m seeing now – what he’s showing me – is a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline.
“I told him, ‘That’s what people want to see from you. Train. Fight. Do what you do best. And if you want to get on your phone after your fight, so be it,” De La Hoya said. “But when you’re training, you’re staying focused.’ And that’s what he’s doing. He gets it.”
In a YouTube chat this week, however, Garcia cried, telling his fans he loves them and that he’s “going through a lot. … They tried to cancel my fight. … I guess I’ll talk to you guys later.”
In a chat I had with Alvarez minutes before his conversation with Trejos, he picked Garcia to narrowly defeat Haney in a bout expected to fare well as a DAZN pay-per-view, following a 2023 Garcia loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis that generated 1.2 million buys.
With Trejos, Alvarez elaborated and said, “About the fight – if he was well prepared, it could be a 50/50 fight.
“Right now, I think it’s going to be very difficult for him.”
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
