Author: quyen1

Ryan Garcia has claimed that his bizarre antics in the build-up to his fight with Devin Haney were planned for ‘weeks and weeks’.

On Saturday night, Garcia stunned the world when he triumphed over his long-term rival – via majority decision – after weeks of strange tirades and rants.

In the weeks prior, Garcia had continuously made worrying posts online, including one which claimed he was dead after having his ‘throat slit’.

His antics continued all the way up to fight night, as the 25-year-old went through his warm-up routine with a classical musical group playing in his changing room.

Now that the dust has settled from his impressive performance, Garcia has since come forward to claim that his antics were in-fact just an act.

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Ryan Garcia claims his bizarre antics in the build-up to his fight with Devin Haney were planned

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Garcia scored three knockdowns on the world champion to claim a majority decision victory

During an appearance on the PBD podcast, Garcia said: ‘We had it pre-recorded months ago.

‘I said, ‘I’m about to make sure everybody thinks I’m going crazy. I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that.’

‘I have it all documented. I was already planning weeks and weeks and weeks behind. I don’t know what made me come up with the idea.

‘One day, I just decided to go all in and just commit to a plan that I had, and I was not going to budge for nobody.

‘It don’t matter if I went on his podcast or anybody’s podcast; I was acting sporadic, just like crazy.’

On the night, Garcia put the bizarre antics behind him as he dominated the fight with Haney – after dropping his opponent three times in the bout.

Two judges scored the fight 114-110, 115-109 in his favour while a third had it down as a draw at 112-112.

Speaking after his victory, Garcia had said: ‘Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy?’

‘I walked through the fire and still held it down and still beat f***ing Devin Haney. And [I] still drank every day and I beat him. And I smoked. What the f***?’

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Garcia had posted a disturbing video to his social-media accounts claiming he was dead

The 25-year-old then alleged that he was raped in a disturbing rant 48 hours later

For weeks, fans had been left wondering whether the fight would actually go ahead. Just days after his bout with Haney was announced, Garcia began to post a number of bizarre rants on social media that left everyone worried about his welfare.

A disturbing video appeared on Garcia’s social media claiming he was dead after having his ‘throat slit’ in early March, before the 25-year-old responded to let the public know that he was still very much alive.

But he did little to allay fears when he later claimed that he was raped by a family member as a child and said he had witnessed ‘human trafficking’.

He went on to share posts on his account about ‘demons’ and ‘UFOs’ before labelling X owner Elon Musk ‘the Antichrist’ and predicting earthquakes that would ‘destroy Hollywood and Las Vegas’.

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Garca thanked the Lord and then acted as though his behavior was part of an elaborate act

He followed that by turning up to the pre-fight press conference and agreeing to pay Haney $500,000 for every pound he was over the weight limit.

He must have known that he wasn’t going to make 140lbs, and he subsequently missed the weight limit by an astonishing 3.2 pounds, but he simply didn’t care as he appeared to swig a beer on the scales.

Footage also emerged of Garcia appearing to smoke cannabis shortly after his victory as he revelled in upsetting the odds.

It is not hard to see where Garcia gets his outlandish antics from either, as his dad was seen getting into a heated exchange with promoter Eddie Hearn after Saturday’s fight, only for the pair to quickly make up just moments later.

WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker has signed a new contract with the company, according to a report.

The star, real name Mark Calaway, has been a staple piece of WWE for a number of decades, becoming one of the most famous faces of all time and still playing a role today.

Appearing sporadically on TV, he was last present in the main event of night two of WrestleMania, appearing to take out The Rock and help Cody Rhodes dethrone Roman Reigns as WWE Champion.

While fans may never see him in the ring again after his retirement in 2020, it appears he will continue to at least work closely with the company having penned a new deal.

According to PWInsider, ‘The Dead Man’ has signed a new legends contract with WWE, a deal also held by the likes of The Boogeyman, Beth Phoenix and JBL.

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WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker has reportedly signed a new legends contract with the company

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Having retired from in-ring action in 2020, ‘The Dead Man’ enjoyed a career in the industry spanning several decades

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He most recently appeared at WrestleMania 40, attacking The Rock (pictured) and helping Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns

Calaway told Mail Sport last year that a number of stars have tried to get him out of retirement for one last match, and that may never fully be out of the question now he is set to be involved with WWE for the foreseeable future.

A WWE legends contract is generally regarded as a non-exclusive deal that does sometimes allow exclusive benefits such as money being received from merchandise sales and video game appearances.

The contract generally gives the WWE the rights to use the wrestler’s image in their products.

His latest efforts have been either behind-the-scenes or one-off appearances, however, and he has regularly been praised by developmental talent for his help to try and improve up-and-coming stars at the Performance Centre.

The 59-year-old also appeared on NXT late last year, attacking Bron Breakker, who has recently been promoted to the main roster.

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The star enjoyed a number of heated rivalries in his career, including with the likes of CM Punk

The Undertaker discusses CM Punk relationship with the MailOnline

Negotiations over Calaway’s new deal are said to have concluded around the time of WrestleMania.

It was WrestleMania where The Undertaker was truly made famous, earning a 21-0 undefeated streak before losing to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.

Over his career he enjoyed heated rivalries with the likes of on-screen brother Kane, CM Punk and new WWE boss Triple H.

Mike Tyson.Getty/Ethan Miller

Mike Tyson has claimed that there were times when he punched fans who asked for his autograph
“My life was just miserable, I was out of control,” the 53-year-old told Yahoo! Finance of the peak of his career.
In the same interview, he credited marijuana use for changing his life after retirement.

Mike Tyson has admitted that he was so out of control during the height of his boxing career that there were times when he punched fans simply for asking for his autograph.

“My life was just miserable, I was out of control,” the 53-year-old told Yahoo Finance.

“I was fighting with everybody. If someone asked me for an autograph, I’d punch them in the face. I was just a mess.”

Tyson had numerous brushes with the law during his turbulent career, including being charged for battery, sexual battery, misdemeanour assault, and assault with a deadly weapon.

He is also a registered sex offender and spent three years in prison after being found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of deviate sexual conduct against Desiree Washington in 1992.

The former fighter, who came out of retirement for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. last November, credits taking up smoking cannabis with helping him turn his life around.

“After I retired, I started smoking,” Tyson said. “What a mistake that was — I should have smoked my whole career. I should have smoked when I was fighting because it put me in this different state of mind.

“I’m very relaxed and the more relaxed you are, the better fighter you are, at least in my case.”

Ahead of his fight against Jones Jr., Tyson said he also took psychedelics.

“I think of it as an enhancer,” he said. “It makes me better, even in the ring. The punches don’t hurt as much, it has a lot to do with my comeback, the psychedelics.”

ABU DHABI — Combat sports star-in-the-making Khamzat Chimaev channeled the greats of the fight game when he spoke at a media event Insider attended Wednesday.

Chimaev, 27, shook up the MMA world when he signed with the UFC in 2020 and destroyed three successive opponents without really getting hit back.

The Sweden-based Dagestani fighter suffered a setback this year when he tested positive for the coronavirus and succumbed to the disease so badly that he reportedly thought he was “going to die,” and contemplated retirement.

But he returns Saturday to the Octagon for the UFC 267 event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for a welterweight match against Li Jingliang.

Chimaev wore a hoodie with Muhammad Ali’s face on it, and spoke like Mike Tyson when he talked about his opponent.

“My game is going, ‘Kill, take his heart.’ Nothing more,” Chimaev chillingly said.

He later added: “I’m a warrior, I come here, kill everyone.”

When one reporter asked what the fans who attend the Etihad Arena can expect this weekend, Chimaev closed by remarking: “Just tell them, brother, ‘Kill, eat him up, get some meat, and maybe 50Gs [$50,000 — a performance-related bonus check.’

“We’ll see.”

It echoes what Chimaev has said before, on an official UFC promotional clip, when he said of Jingliang: “I like to eat him.”

Fight fans can watch whether it goes down as Chimaev intends as the UFC 267 event will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the US, and BT Sport 2 in the UK.

Logan Paul believes he can go toe-to-toe with Mike Tyson.

During the latest episode of his “Impaulsive” podcast, Logan talked about his future in the boxing industry alongside his brother, Jake Paul.

Logan recalled that he’d gone eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather and began discussing who he’d go against next in the ring.

“Someone mentioned Mike Tyson, like how funny is it? One great at a time. Or is it like you can only fight one” said Paul. “My lawyer mentioned it, and he was like, ‘No, Tyson will rip your head off. You don’t stand a chance.”

Paul continued: “I’m like, bro, I literally just went through all of this. You can’t tell me I can’t beat Mike Tyson. Bro, he’s old, old.”

The 26-year-old YouTube star made headlines earlier this month for his fight against Floyd Mayweather in a boxing exhibit. The two were embroiled in a brief controversy when his brother reportedly stole Mayweather’s hat during a press event and received a black eye from security.

Paul later said that Mayweather was slower than he expected during their fight. He added that he whispered things in Mayweather’s ears to throw him off during the match.

“That was crazy for me,” Paul said after the match. “I knew if it went the distance, I won, technically.”

During a press conference, Paul said he kept a list of everyone who said Mayweather would embarrass him, including Mike Tyson.

“You’re all f—ed,” Paul said. “Mike Tyson is on it. I love Mike Tyson, but he’s on it. He told me on my own podcast, ‘Floyd is going to beat his f—— ass.’ That’s what he said. Floyd didn’t beat my f—— ass, Mike.”

The unified world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua “could be taught some more stuff,” according to the division’s former ruler, Mike Tyson.

Joshua is the incumbent WBA, WBO, and IBF king in boxing’s glamor weight class, but has faced criticisms for a porous defense.

After Joshua’s up-and-down 11th round knockout win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017, Floyd Mayweather met the British fighter in London and told him to his face that he was getting hit too often.

The American even invited him to his Las Vegas gym — the Mayweather Boxing Club — so he could improve his blocking, parrying, and his evasive skills at an establishment renowned for its focus on technique.

“You have to respect AJ,” Mayweather told Fight Hype three years ago. “He showed that he had heart but … we want to tighten that defense up until it’s real, real sharp, and real, real slick.”

Since climbing off the deck to beat Klitschko, Joshua had to overcome a bloodied nose to stop Carlos Takam late in 2017, came-from-behind to defeat Alexander Povetkin the following year, and then lost his titles in a humiliating defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. when he was beaten to the Madison Square Garden floor four times in 2019.

It took a champion’s mindset to seek an immediate rematch and reclaim his titles, out-pointing Ruiz in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, later that same year.

And it is perhaps because of that why Tyson regards Joshua as a legitimate titleholder, despite apparent weaknesses.

“I just think he’s a big guy,” he told ESPN this week. “It’s hard to fight being that big. It’s very difficult being that big and having to fight a smaller guy. That guy could learn some more. He could be taught some more stuff.”

Not everybody believes Joshua has to significantly improve, though.

Klitschko told Insider last year that Joshua is “the complete athlete,” adding: “He can dominate the division and he has all the capabilities [to do so].”

Mike Tyson: Deontay Wilder is ‘great’ and Tyson Fury is ‘a monster’

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. Photo by John Gurzinski / AFP via Getty Images

The heavyweight division is lively at present as there are numerous big-name athletes vying for the No.1-rank in the division.

Tyson Fury, the WBC champion, is the consensus ruler having adopted a bold and risky strategy to not only defeat long-time rival Deontay Wilder in February, but knock him out in one of the most significant wins in the division’s modern era.

Wilder is chasing a third fight, something which was contracted until the clause reportedly expired last month. It is a trilogy which Mike Tyson supports.

“This guy is great,” Tyson said of Wilder. “Just keep on fighting. Fight him [Fury] again. Fight him a third time. Whenever you have an opportunity to fight for the title, he should fight.”

However, he reserved the highest of praises for Fury himself.

“I think he’s very good,” Tyson said. “He looks like he’s not intimidating, but he’s really elusive, he really knows how to box. He’s really smart, he’s really difficult to hit, and he’s 7-foot, damn near. He’s a monster.”

Mike Tyson said he bit Evander Holyfield’s ear because he “wanted to kill him” at that moment.

Tyson, who became the youngest fighter to win the heavyweight championship when he was 20 in 1986, clamped his teeth down on Holyfield’s ear during their second bout in 1997, a bout retrospectively dubbed “The Bite Fight.”

Holyfield dominated the opening rounds and looked like he could coast toward a decision, however, in the middle of a clinch in the third, he could be heard screaming in pain.

Tyson had bitten a chunk of his ear and spat the cartilage on the floor, and was given a two-point penalty deduction.

Though the fight was allowed to continue, Tyson bit Holyfield on the other ear and was disqualified.

The moment went down in infamy, becoming one of the most famous images in sports in the 1990s.

When asked by Jim Gray on Fox News whether he would ever commit such a flagrant foul again, Tyson said Sunday: “I hope not.”

Tyson added: “I say, ‘No, never ever again.’ But I might do it again. Well if he does what he was doing to get bitten, I would bite him again. Yeah.”

The fighter said he was getting annoyed because he felt Holyfield was headbutting him during the contest.

He said: “I bit him because I wanted to kill him. I was really mad about my head being bumped and everything. I really lost consciousness of the whole fight. It took me out of my fight plan and everything.”

Why Evander Holyfield didn’t bite Mike Tyson back

Holyfield said earlier this year that he really wanted to bite Tyson back after he’d had half of his ear bitten off.

Holyfield’s cornermen were apparently telling him to think about God to calm him down, and the fighter then remembered sage advice from his grandmother.

“All of a sudden it came across my mind what my grandmama said — they always catch the person who do it the second time,” the former two-weight world champion told Boxing Scene.

Holyfield and Tyson could meet once again in a boxing ring, albeit in an exhibition, as the latter looks for former big-name athletes to take part in his for-charity League of Legends promotional company.

Tyson returns to the ring for an eight-round boxing exhibition November 28, where he’ll box Roy Jones Jr. in a wildly-anticipated showcase at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Holyfield would make for a suitable opponent should Tyson look for another exhibition partner following the Jones event.

A prime Mike Tyson would have been as big a superstar in MMA had he chosen to compete in that fighting discipline, rather than box.

That’s according to Professional Fighters League champion Kayla Harrison, who said when athletes are as determined and as skilled as he is, they find a way to succeed in whatever their chosen field is.

“I think he would have been a superstar,” Harrison told Insider ahead of her return to fighting at PFL 3, the promotion’s third show of its 2021 season.

The nine-bout fight card, which will be held at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, is part of PFL’s return to live events following a one-year pandemic-enforced hiatus in 2020.

Harrison is already 8-0 (three knockouts, three submissions, and two decisions) as a pro fighter, having won four bouts in the 2019 season, winning the PFL finals, and taking home a $1 million prize.

She was awarded the winner’s check by PFL CEO Peter Murray and the former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson, who she went on to meet another time when she appeared on his popular “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast.

“To spend time and share time with a true … he’s a living legend, it was a humbling experience,” Harrison said.

She told us that she doesn’t get excited about celebrity culture often, but was taken aback when she sat with him, heard his philosophies, and talked one-on-one about life.

“We went pretty deep, which I wasn’t expecting. I learned so much — it was awesome.”

On how Tyson could have fared had he competed in his prime in a cage rather than a ring, Harrison said: “There are certain people in life who are successful no matter what they do and when you meet them, you know.

“Tyson is no different. If he’d been a tennis player, he’d have been the best in the world — that’s my firm belief.”

Harrison has already lived one wildly successful career as a former two-time Olympic gold medal-winning judoka. Now she’s in the midst of another successful career as a one-time PFL queen, and is ready to defend her throne.

“We’re cut from the same cloth,” she said of Tyson regarding that ability to succeed in a number of sporting fields.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but I do believe that. Your mindset is a powerful thing and every great champion I know has come from tough times and a lot of obstacles.

“That mental toughness, and that drive from within, it can’t be satiated or stopped.

“So I’m no different in the sense that judo just happened to be what I did. If I joined the tennis team, the championship mindset is that you find a way [to win].”

Former champion Sergio Garcia voiced what many of the world’s best golfers were probably thinking Thursday after a brutal opening round at The Masters.

Augusta National bared its teeth on the opening day of the first major of 2021, humbling many of the top players on tour.

So tough was the course on the day that Garcia compared it to fighting boxing icon Evander Holyfield.

“I fought hard, but I feel like I just came out of the ring with Evander Holyfield, like a 12-round match,” said the 2017 champion, who shot a four-over-par 76.

“I need to go home and rest.”

Garcia wasn’t the only player who had a tough opening round, with 2019 US Open winner Gary Woodland also using a boxing analogy to describe his struggles, comparing it to fighting Mike Tyson.

In total, only 12 golfers broke par, led by Justin Rose with his seven-under-par 65, while there were five scores in the 80s.

There were also 12 scores of triple bogey or worse, including a seven at the par-four ninth hole by America’s Jordan Spieth.

Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy shanked a shot so badly at the seventh hole he managed to hit his father in the leg.

—PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 8, 2021

“I should ask for an autographed glove,” McIlroy’s father joked after the moment.

High-scoring on the opening day was largely caused by Augusta’s notoriously undulating greens, which were at their savage best Thursday.

As Insider’s Tyler Lauletta put it, the greens “proved extremely punishing” on the day — something that is likely only going to get worse as the tournament progresses and the putting surfaces dry out even more, making them even faster.

The brutal nature of Augusta this year contrasts with the unusually placid set up of the course at 2020’s tournament, where more than 50 players went under par on the opening day, more than four times as many as Thursday’s total.

Evander Holyfield’s team says Mike Tyson has rejected a $25 million offer to fight in Miami on May 29.

The two former heavyweight champions fought twice in the late 1990s. Holyfield won the first via 11th round knockout before a third-round victory when Tyson was disqualified for biting during their rematch.

Talk of a third bout has escalated because of the rising popularity of showbiz boxing — a separate entity to professional boxing. Tyson’s exhibition against Roy Jones Jr., one of showbiz boxing’s biggest bouts to date, was reportedly the best-selling fight of 2020.

Tyson told reporters after the eight-round draw with Jones Jr. that he smoked marijuana before the fight, and enjoyed the show so much he wants to do it all again.

This suggested another box office showdown, and that an exhibition involving 58-year-old Holyfield, who has said he’s desperate to get his hands on the 54-year-old Tyson again, could materialize.

But just weeks after hinting that Tyson was avoiding the bout, Holyfield’s representatives have accused Tyson’s of refusing the $25 million cash guarantee.

A statement sent to Insider described “intense negotiations for several months” for a lucrative third instalment in the Tyson-Holyfield rivalry that would take place at the Hard Rock Stadium on the Memorial Day weekend.

“We thought this was a done deal but it quickly fell apart when Tyson’s people declined all offers,” Holyfield’s manager Kris Lawrence said.

“We were negotiating in good faith all along and it appears we just ended up wasting our time.”

Tyson returned to the ring last year. Photos by Joe Scarnici / Triller

The statement also said: “Tyson’s demands recently became untenable, and not what Mike Tyson had originally agreed on in direct conversations with Holyfield.”

It added: “While neither side has announced publicly that the fight is not going to happen, with negotiations at a standstill and the date rapidly approaching, it seems unlikely that this fight will occur as planned.”

Tyson’s representatives since argued that “this is not true.”

A spokesperson told the Fight Freaks Unite newsletter, which is put together by the former ESPN and USA Today boxing reporter Dan Rafael, that there was no 50:50 offer for a split of net profit.

“Tyson is focused on his fast-growing sports league, [a Martin] Scorsese-produced TV show and slew of other events and premium content,” the spokesperson added.

The Holyfield statement, Lawrence’s comment, and Tyson’s rebuttal follow an Instagram post from Tyson who distanced himself from Triller — the broadcast partner behind the Tyson vs. Jones event last year.

“There is no Tyson with Triller fight,” said Tyson. “I don’t know any Triller executives personally. I don’t have a deal with Triller or any head executive representing them for the next event.

“I am a partner in Legends Only League and my next event is with my league.

“I will never do another event or any business with Triller so anyone misrepresenting that they own the rights to my name or my next event isn’t true. I am not with or ever will be with Triller’s Fight Club.”