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.”