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Ryan Garcia and Jake Paul have had a friendly relationship over the years, but that’s changed somewhat in recent weeks. Now Garcia has Paul at the top of his hit list for his first fight of 2025.
“He was trying to beat up on uncle Mike (Tyson),” Garcia said Tuesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show. “Like I said, the same way I feel about Manny Pacquiao, the same way I feel about this.
“We said we would run it one day. He came to my gym a long time ago in Victorville, then he came to visit me with the (Saul) ‘Canelo’ (Alvarez) camp — this is before he boxed. So I kind of gave birth to his boxing career, so I’m here to end it. That’s it.”
Garcia’s rationale for targeting Paul due to the selection of 58-year-old Tyson as an opponent is similar to his rationale for his Dec. 30 exhibition contest with Rukiya Anpo in Tokyo. Anpo took part in an exhibition match with 45-year-old Pacquiao in July, a bout many believe Anpo got the better of.
Garcia has fought mainly at lightweight and super lightweight in his professional boxing career, although he weighed in several pounds over the super lightweight limit for his last two bouts. His exhibition with Anpo is expected to be contested at a catchweight of 153 pounds, but Garcia said Tuesday that he still plans to return to 140 or 147 pounds when he resumes his pro career after his one-year suspension expires in April 2025 stemming from a positive ostarine test in the lead-up to his bout with Devin Haney.
Despite this, Garcia, who walks around at 165 to 170 pounds, said he’d be willing to fight Paul at a massive weight disadvantage of 185 pounds. The controversial boxer compared the potential fight to the 2021 exhibition between Paul’s older brother, Logan, and the much smaller Floyd Mayweather, citing his skill advantage as an equalizer for Paul’s size.
“If Jake fights the way he fought with Mike,” Garcia said, “I genuinely believe I would knock him out within four [or] five rounds.”
Tyson vs. Paul attracted more than 65 million viewers worldwide to Netflix, with the event said to be the biggest audience boxing has produced in recent memory.
A fight between Garcia and Paul would be a major spectacle in its own right.
“It would be huge,” Garcia said. “I see it everywhere. Everywhere I go, people are asking me to fight Jake Paul. I’ve got to give the people what they want, that’s what I’m used to doing.”
Garcia’s one-year ban from the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) prevents him from participating in professional boxing for the foreseeable future. As a result, Garcia had to agree to an exhibition — which is not considered a pro boxing contest — to get in the ring with Anpo before the year is over. Garcia reiterated that his motive remains revenge for Anpo “beating up” a faded Pacquiao.
“I saw this dude way bigger than Manny Pacquiao and way younger, just beating up — well trying to beat up — on him,” Garcia said. “Just throwing haymakers the whole fight and just being obnoxious in the ring. I was like, ‘Oh my God, dude. If they give me a chance, I’ll knock this dude out.’
“Then I guess the talks started there. … I love Manny Pacquiao.”
The build-up to Garcia’s most recent fight with Haney in April was peculiar, to say the least. Garcia was constantly on social media live streams late at night, ranting and claiming to be smoking marijuana. Garcia stated before and after the fight that he was drinking alcohol every day in camp before the clash and even drank from a fake beer bottle at the weigh-in after missing weight by almost four pounds.
Things only spiraled more out of control after Garcia defeated Haney — a win that has since been overturned to a no contest. Garcia notoriously broke down and was criticized heavily for his erratic behavior as well as racist and homophobic comments made on social media. Garcia subsequently agreed to go into rehab to get help.
On Tuesday, a much more restrained Garcia credited the experience for saving him from a darker fate.
“I was going through a hard time in my life, and I’m thankful that I got through that moment in my life,” Garcia said. “I’m much more calm, and I think that’s the way I want to live — not so much craziness in my life. It’s not good for me. For me, this is a much more balanced part of my life.
“I think that I’m every day I’m getting through it and I’m feeling much more positive. And living that type of life [I was before], it’s only a one-way street, and that’s to destruction. Obviously, you’ve seen some of the stuff after the fight. For me, this is the life that I always wanted to live — just more calm, just more focused, and ready to be the best fighter I can possibly be.”
“Just kind of seeing how it was affecting everybody around me.” Garcia added when asked what the “last straw” was for his realization that he needed help, “I didn’t see it at the time because I was going through whatever I was going through. But it was one thing after another, it would damage anybody. Honestly, from the PED thing to my mom getting cancer and all the other things that were going through my life, I was going through a divorce at the time as well. So it was a lot of things at one time, and honestly, it did crack me for a little bit. But like I said, I had a good team, and we got back to where we’re at now, and I’m just happy to be back in the ring and giving a great event in Japan.”
Although Garcia’s win over Haney was vacated to no contest, Haney has now taken their rivalry to the courtroom, suing him for battery, fraud, and breach of contract after Garcia’s failed doping test.
Garcia, 26, still hopes to share the ring with Haney again and prove that the ostarine present in his system didn’t make an impact on his performance.
“It’s a little bit personal now,” Garcia said. “He sued me. That’s crazy. He sued me after the fight and that’s a real legitimate lawsuit that I’m going through. Also, just with his dad going around saying all that [trash talk]. I think the rematch would be huge. They think that I cheated, they think that they would win if there’s no ostarine in my system. Which again, I don’t even know how it got there. But if they feel that way, let’s run it again. I’m going to do him worse because I didn’t even train for the (first) fight.”
Garcia named WBO super lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and a rematch with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis as other opponents he would like to face upon his return to pro boxing.
Although unlikely to happen, Garcia also welcomed a move up to welterweight to face IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who is currently targeting a fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. for Feb. 22.
Garcia cited Ennis’ poor defense as a flaw in the welterweight’s game that he believes he can expose.
“He got hit with that left hook about a thousand times,” Garcia said of Ennis’ most recent win over Chukhadzhian. “I think that his defense is — I think he’s a little overrated. I would probably keep it simple, I think he’s a little overrated. I think that somebody with my talent, I think I could beat him.”