Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are set to throw down this Saturday night, and the bad blood between them has been boiling over.

But things got really serious when Haney made some shocking remarks about wanting to “kill” Garcia in the ring.

Whoa!

Was this just a competitor hyping the fight, or something more?

Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter of Ryan, weighed in on this controversy, and he was concerned but proud too.

Did Ryan Garcia take a page out of Floyd Mayweather’s playbook?

Oscar certainly thinks so.

Has Ryan Garcia provoked the Haneys?

In a lively discussion on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Oscar De La Hoya opened up about the heated pre-fight talk surrounding the upcoming clash between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.

The conversation turned particularly intense when Bill Haney’s bold statement came up:

“I’m sending my son to go kill him.” This remark from Haney’s press event certainly raised eyebrows and added a whole new level of drama to the anticipation.

Reacting to these words, De La Hoya shared his thoughts with a mix of concern and insight.

“Well look, I mean you never want to even think about or wish that upon anybody.

Especially inside the ring or the Octagon because we’re in a dangerous sport, you know,” he said.

Then, he pointed out the psychological play at work, likening Garcia’s knack for unsettling his opponents to Floyd Mayweather’s famous pre-fight tactics.

“And when I heard that, I was like ‘no come on, you don’t go there’ you know. But again, that’s how brilliant Ryan Garcia is right? He got under their skin and it reminds me of Floyd Mayweather. How he would do his antics and it works.”

But was this the only thing Haney said?

Bill Haney Threatens Violence!

Tensions soared to new heights during the pre-fight press tour when Bill Haney unleashed a series of stark threats against Ryan Garcia.

In a charged atmosphere, with security teams flanking the fighters, Haney’s words cut deeply.

 “I’m sending him to go kill him,” he declared.

He continued, “You disrespect the country; you disrespect the people; you disrespect a religion – you will be sentenced, and I’m sending my son to go kill him.” The escalation didn’t stop there. As Garcia’s mother, Lisa, arrived, Haney reiterated his ominous message: “It’s not gonna be a beating, it’s gonna be an annihilation. Like [Ivan] Drago said in Rocky – if he dies, he dies. This ain’t a game. I’m sending my son to go kill him.” His relentless rhetoric underscored the fierce animosity fueling this bout.

How will these psychological games affect the fighters’ performances and the sport’s reputation? Will the personal beef make the match even more entertaining?