Today's Garcia vs Judah press conference at the Barclays Center started late, got a little weird, seemed like a letdown, and then exploded.
In what Oscar De La Hoya called a "team decision" between Golden Boy Promotions and Al Haymon, which Zab Judah called "insanity" and "insecurity" from Team Garcia, Judah and his team were essentially barred from entering the presser, as the idea was to separate them into their own times on the stage. When asked if Judah's team were involved in the decision, Oscar said no.
Judah says he waited from 11 am in the basement of the Barclays Center, noting that he and his team were not provided food or water.
After the undercard fighters, including co-feature combatants Peter Quillin and Fernando Guerrero, spoke, along with Angel and Danny Garcia, it was announced that Judah and his team had left the building. That was it for the day, or so it seemed.
A bit later, Judah made his way to the stage with his team, and that's where it all got a little crazy. As Zab ripped into De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, also there as a Golden Boy rep, Oscar found himself unable to say much in return, either by choice or because, as it seemed, the whole thing had gotten legitimately uncomfortable.
To Hopkins' great credit, he did his very best to sort of take control of the situation, but Judah released vitriol all over the place. Here is a sampling of what he said, as I did my best to take notes live:
To Oscar: "You a professional promoter! Do your research, bro!"
"Angel was the one calling me names, talking loud. Then when the real deal starts, he wants to call for 1000 police officers."
"If you wanna be a gangster, be a gangster all the way. If you wanna be Al Capone, be Al Capone all the way. Don't go halfway with it."
"He's going to sleep! He's going to sleep! It's not a game. Welcome to Brooklyn. This is terrible right here, what they're doing."
"This has nothing to do with Zab vs the Puerto Ricans. My wife is Puerto Rican! This is Zab vs Danny and his dumb ass dad."
"They make it like I ran out the building and I'm unprofessional or I'm some street thug. Far from that. I have class about myself."
"My wife, my son. I see little Zab right there! My daughter's right there! What are they gonna do? This is our city! They can't come to their father's press conference. Why? Because the Garcias are scared?"
"The reason why you guys know me and know my name, I'm back. Hand speed, power, style, defense, it's all here. Locked and loaded."
"Angel Garcia is a dopehead. He must be a drug addict or an ex-drug addict or something, because he can't control himself."
"My defense is impeccable! My hands are super fast! My power is devastating! I got more KOs than the boy got fights!"
"You talk about hooks? I live in Vegas! The hometown of the hookers! I duck 'em and dodge 'em every day!"
"The beast was already woken up. I sharpened the razors up. I've never had this problem."
"Angel can't get under my skin, man. He's an addict, man. I don't worry about dudes like that."
Here's the video footage of the Judah portion of the presser because text can't do it justice. Judah was gone, man.
And tomorrow's weigh-in might get really, really interesting.