TRASH ’N BURN
Stars like Ryan must bin sick talk or KO the sport
RYAN GARCIA earned the plaudits for his stunning win over Devin Haney last weekend.
It was a mighty upset as he floored the WBC light-welterweight and former undisputed lightweight king three times on the way to a points victory.
The American has what it takes to be a crossover star in the sport, given his following on social media platforms and obvious skills inside the ring.
But whether or not his pre-fight antics were down to mental health issues or all a ploy to unsettle Haney, his comments were disgraceful.
So too were that of Haney and his father and trainer Bill (inset together below). Both sides were keen to threaten each other by promising they were out for the kill.
Boxing pre-fight trash talk is one thing – saying you’re going to render someone unconscious unfortunately comes with the territory of the sport.
Yet there has to be a line and when you say you’re going to kill someone, then you have long crossed it.
The reaction on social media to any criticism of the fighters using the threats is usually one of ‘get over it’ and ‘stop being a wimp’ as it’s only a bit of talk.
But this is boxing, it’s a sport and it’s not supposed to be barbaric.
What people may fail to realise is that there remains a crowd queuing up to get rid of the sweet science.
Maybe not as much over in the US but certainly here in the UK. They appear every time a boxer suffers a serious brain injury or dies due to punches taken in the ring.
They say the sport shouldn’t exist and they call for it to be banned.
If we allow boxers to go around threatening each other with death and then one day one actually does kill someone, then it will be much harder to defend the sport against those people.
Boxing is one of the few sports that you can legally kill someone. If a boxer dies at your hands in the ring – unless you’ve cheated – you won’t face any charges.
That’s a lot of power to have in your gloves.
There needs to be more respect. This sport is brilliant at its best when two top fighters go at it, like last weekend. But it is so important in society too, where gyms offer a sanctuary for troubled council estate youths across the world.
If one day it disappears, the world will be worse off. And if we’re not careful and we allow boxers to threaten death, that day may come sooner than we think.