Boxing icon Ryan Garcia orchestrated a masterful deception, leaving the public bewildered for months. Initially perceived as a mental breakdown, Garcia’s erratic behavior on social media was a carefully crafted scheme to deceive fans, critics, and notably, his opponent.
In a recent appearance on the PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David, Garcia disclosed the meticulous planning behind his elaborate ruse. He confessed to laying the groundwork for this plan months ago, ensuring its seamless execution once initiated on social media.
Garcia revealed: “We have it pre-recorded, months ago. What’d I say was gonna happen? I said, ‘I’m about to make sure everybody thinks I’m gonna go crazy. I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that. Watch, it’s gonna be called the great escape. Like, I have it all documented. I was already planning it weeks and months behind.”
He went on to say: “I don’t know what made me come up with the idea, honestly. One day I just decided to just go all in, and commit to the plan that I had. And I was not gonna budge for nobody. I was acting like, sporadic. Like just crazy. Faces, I would do this (scrunch) with my nose, and then I’d be like, ‘It’s just a tick.’ I did make adjustments, but what was real though is at times I did drink a little bit during camp. Because I like to drink.”
Garcia has been releasing videos on the internet over the last several weeks, alleging that he was r*ped, imprisoned against his will, and even killed. The Nevada State Athletic Commission was so concerned that they asked for a mental health assessment to be completed before his bout with WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney.
Garcia went on to say: “.. It kept unraveling itself. If I’m being quite honest, it was more of a — it wasn’t so much my ideas, it was more so just wisdom coming from God. And then I just made adjustments as I went. I would have these strong urges. Like [signs] from the Holy Spirit to do this, do that.”
“And then God always cleaned up everything I was doing. I felt like on one side I had the enemy pushing me to do certain things and then I had God and it was just like, no matter what happened, God always made it right.”
Garcia’s antics also had a big effect on the odds of his matches against Haney. Since he was a huge underdog going into the bout, Garcia is said to have wagered $2 million on his own victory. Garcia ended up cashing in a $12 million ticket while seated at +600.
Garcia earned around $50 million in total for his match.