All hail the king: Ryan Garcia STUNS Devin Haney with decision win
Ryan Garcia was not supposed to beat Devin Haney. Devin Haney was the better boxer. He was the champion. Garcia had lost to Gervonta Davis. They were not truly in the same league.
All of these sentiments were thrown out the window when Ryan Garcia knocked Devin Haney down in the first round. By the end of the fight, it was Haney that was beat up and out boxed despite supposedly being the better boxer. At the end of the day, Garcia defeated Haney via majority decision and scored three knockdowns on the night.
Bad omens from the jump for Devin Haney
In the first round, Devin Haney was on the bad end of the signature left hook from Ryan Garcia. Down for the count, Haney would have to claw his way back into the fight from an early 10-8 round. As the fight progressed it looked like Haney was going to jab and clinch his way to a victory as he’s done time and time again.
But Garcia, who had the speed and size advantage from missing weight, managed to knock down Haney in the seventh round. As Garcia stalked Haney down, Haney clinched. As the referee broke the two up, Garcia hit Haney and was deducted a point. The 10-8 round was effectively nullified. But the damage was not.
Garcia now in full control, pressed the pace and scored two more knockdowns in rounds ten and eleven. By the 12th round, Ryan Garcia was coasting and Haney, who knew he needed a finish, just didn’t have it in him to go out and get a finish, something he isn’t known for anyway.
Ryan Garcia: “Y’all can’t take a joke?”
After being declared the winner, Ryan Garcia basked in the glory of his handy work. After putting Haney and the world through hell with his antics before the fight, missing weight, chugging a beer at the weigh ins, Garcia had the opportunity to say, “I told you so.” His post fight interview was a bit odd, but we can expect that from Garcia at this point.
Haney seemed to have taken the loss in stride, though it was his first professional loss. Garcia was not eligible for the belt but Haney could lose the belt, according to the lead up. However, he did say in his post fight that he was still a champion. And why should Haney lose the belt for fighting someone who couldn’t make weight? It was not an official super lightweight bout. But that’s going to be up to the WBC. Devin Haney will surely be praying for mercy from the sanctioning body.
Garcia and Haney made a bet before the fight: $500,000 of the other’s purse if they missed weight. Garcia missed by three pounds and part of the deal for the fight to go on was Haney getting that bet.
Haney called for a rematch with Garcia after the fight but there is no rematch clause reported and Garcia could go on to greener pastures.
