The admiration Ryan Garcia has for Floyd Mayweather Jr. apparently goes beyond casual association.
During a lengthy interview with Patrick Bet-David on the PBD Podcast, Garcia, the junior welterweight contender from Victorville, Calif., opened up about his much-publicized friendship with “Money May,” making it clear that he respects the Hall of Fame Fighter more than most people even within his inner circle.
When Bet-David asked which high-profile person in his life had the license to offer him harsh, unbated criticism— “I want to know which GOAT [Greatest of All Time] you allow to privately kick your ass”—Garcia immediately named Mayweather.
“Floyd,” Garcia said. “I don’t really speak when Floyd’s talking. And I speak a lot. I’m a big talker. I don’t speak when Floyd’s talking. He tells me a bunch of things. I just shut up. Floyd can talk.”
“Oh yeah,” Garcia continued. “He’s called me out. So it’s like, what did Jesus say, ‘be wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove.’ He comes out as gentle. He doesn’t come out like [aggressive]. ‘Cuz I don’t do that. God doesn’t do that to me. Unless it’s bad, bad. Unless I’m really messing up.
“I can hear Floyd’s voice and I can respect it. I don’t really talk when he’s speaking. He even says it, know when to speak and know when not to speak. Like that’s facts. I really respect Floyd more than a lot of people.”
Added Garcia, “Did he call me, Canelo [Alvarez], Gervonta Davis, the three faces of boxing? Yes.”
Not everyone has been pleased with Garcia’s tight-knit relation with Mayweather. Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, the longtime promoter of Garcia, has taken issue with what he feels to be a potential instance of tampering. In a recent social media post, De La Hoya informed Mayweather to “f— off.” De La Hoya and Mayweather have been sworn enemies since their days as active fighters.
Not all of Mayweather’s instructions have panned out in positive ways for Garcia. According to Garcia, it was Mayweather who advised him to drop talks with WBC 140-pound titlist Devin Haney and focus on a fight with Mayweather’s client, Rolando Romero, on the logic that beating Romero first and earning his title could pave the way for a bigger unification fight with Haney. Of course, in what was an embarrassing turn of events, Romero would go on to sign to fight Isaac Cruz on March 30 on the undercard of the Keith Thurman vs. Tim Tszyu 155-pound bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Garcia insists that he has now resumed talks with Haney.
Garcia and Mayweather drew headlines last month when they were seen jogging together early in the morning. Garcia revealed that he was the one who suggested the idea to Mayweather, whom he claimed was overly impressed with his work ethic.
“That 3 o’ clock in the morning run with Floyd? That was my idea,” Garcia said. “Like, ‘Floyd, let’s go. Let’s hit this run.’ ‘Oh wow.’ You know what Floyd told me on the run? I promise you this, as God as my witness. He looks at me in the eye, it almost sounds like he’s crying. You don’t hear his voice get like this—very few times. He goes, ‘I respect you.’ Just like that. ‘I respect you.’ Like, you know when Tyson [chokes up]? ‘I respect you.’ And I was like, ‘why Floyd?’
“And I’m getting the chills all over my body. ‘Cuz nobody’s doin’ what you’re doing. Nobody.’ Floyd calls me all the time, and I’m running all the time. Floyd’s like, ‘I’m so proud of you, proud of of you, proud of of you.’”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.