NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia press tour got off to a heated start on Tuesday as the defending WBC 140-pound titleholder accused Garcia of being intoxicated at the New York leg of the press conference.

“You’ve been drinking. I can smell it on your breath," said Haney. The accusation seemed to enrage Garcia, who initially denied there was liquor on his breath before saying “I’ll drink a beer and beat the f__k out of you.” The tension continued to build as Garcia repeatedly said, “How about I beat the f__k out of you?” in louder and louder tones. The two didn’t stop talking long enough to pose for photos, and Garcia stormed off after another threat.

The two fighters weren’t wearing microphones, and the context of their chatter didn’t become apparent until a video posted by FightHype was able to pick up some of what they were saying.

The accusation was never corroborated, and no one else had made such claims at the event, which began at close to 2 p.m. and attracted hundreds of fans and dozens of media.

Even if microphones didn’t pick up their face-to-face interactions at first, Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), The Ring'sNo. 1-rated junior welterweight, repeated the accusation while talking to reporters afterward.

“Ryan was at the mother__king press conference drunk as a skunk. Hopefully he gets it together before April 20th and I’m gonna have him punch drunk on that day,” said Haney, who will make the first defense of his belt against Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney gave a similar explanation when asked to comment on Garcia’s recent social media behavior, where he has seemed just as interested in pursuing feuds with UFC fighter Sean O’Malley, plus actor Shia Labeouf and pop singer Billie Eilish.

“Ryan is an alcoholic, he drinks a lot. We don’t know which Ryan we’re gonna get. We don’t know, he might be off a bottle of Casamigos (tequila) when you're talking to him,” said Haney.

Garcia, whose voice seemed hoarse at times, was composed while speaking to reporters after the press conference, in sharp contrast with his aggressive demeanor towards Haney. He wasn’t asked about Haney’s accusations towards him, and spoke in general terms when asked why he, as a +475 underdog according to Draft Kings, is so confident in his chances in the fight.

“I just know I’m that much better than him. There’s so many things I can say, I’d just rather do it,” said Garcia, whose eighth-round knockout win over Oscar Duarte in December helped him bounce back from a seventh round KO loss to Gervonta Davis earlier in the year.

There were several other contentious moments between the two on the dais. Haney, alluding to the on-and-off negotiations for the fight over the past months, said “We can say that he’s eager to fight me, but we don’t know. If he goes on another jog with Floyd, he might pull out.”

Haney was willing to get into more specifics about why he thinks he, the -700 betting favorite, is most likely to retain his title, saying that Garcia is a one trick pony with his left hook who hasn’t evolved since their amateur days, when they split six bouts, three wins apiece.

“He knows he don’t have the skills, he don’t have the IQ, he don’t have the heart. We’ve seen him quit. We’ve seen you take a knee and on April 20 it won’t be no different. When it gets hot, you quit,” said Haney.