The disparity in discipline and preparation that Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have exhibited in their careers is about to be revealed in the ring as a wide chasm.

That was the takeaway from Friday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters,” when analyst Paulie Malignaggi went all in on the “idiocracy” that has popularized the social media darling Garcia.

“You enable and reward the idiocracy and it’s been rewarded for Ryan Garcia instead of him paying consequences for it,” Malignaggi said. “Getting this kind of fight is one of those things that enables it.

“He’s popular and generates money. The fact is, you don’t have to promote the fight that much because he’s got an idiot fan base that’ll probably not watch it anyway, because they’re not boxing fans. It shows you the generation he’s in and why the guy is so popular.”

Malignaggi admitted following his criticism that “I’m going to sound like one of those boomers.” But he proceeded to break down why Garcia’s approach will look superficial when a professional, unbeaten, two-division champion like Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) is on the other side of the ring.

Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), who was stopped by a Gervonta Davis body shot in April 2023, will be fighting for a belt for the second time in three fights. Haney wears the WBC 140-pound belt.

“[Garcia] doesn’t do himself any favors with his ability to put himself in a position to win and to maximize his promotability,” said Malignaggi, a former welterweight titleholder. “All things said, the kid is still promotable if he gets his act together, but he doesn’t maximize that or his ability to win by doing these stupid things.”

Garcia’s downhill turn started at his Hollywood news conference, where he rode in on a horse and was preceded by women dancing with Hula Hoops, then turned dark, admitting that he smokes pot and drinks alcohol, and failing to answer when Haney asked whether he would show up for their April 20 fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Since then, Garcia has posted a series of troubling social media videos that some observers fear could be related to an ongoing mental-health crisis. Yet Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya and others have maintained the fight will happen.

Separate from those issues, Malignaggi said, Garcia hasn’t done enough as a boxer to prove he has earned this date.

“[I]s it just his ability to sell?” Malignaggi asked. “Anything in [his last] fight make him an elite of the 140-pound division? At what point in time did we see Ryan Garcia and say, ‘Wow, this kid is a world-beater?’ Sure, he’s had some good moments [like stopping Luke Campbell], but he’s not even really that good. He sells a lot, so they push him into big fights to generate pay-per-view sales.”

To that, fellow “Deep Waters” analyst Chris Algieri said, “You gave away why this fight is happening. They’re picking low-hanging fruit.”

While Haney is coming off a narrow victory on the scorecards over three-division champion Vasiliy Lomaschenko and a dominant showing over former 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis, what has Garcia done to be considered an equal, beyond splitting six amateur fights with Haney?

“Haney’s on a roll. Ryan Garcia may be regressing,” Malignaggi said. “Is it just, ‘Let’s check his [social media numbers], he’s getting a lot of views … ?’”

Algieri, who has known Haney since he turned 10, says the fighter and his team will be "dead focused."

“They’re looking beyond Ryan Garcia, down the road,” Algieri said. “They’re all about lofty goals. Team Haney is prepared to do what they’ll do to get on to the next big fight. They’ll make a lot of money in this fight and the next one. This is a stepping stone.”

Malignaggi agreed.

“It doesn’t matter what [Garcia’s] antics [have been], the passion for the sport [by Haney] carries you through,” he said.