Many expected Ryan Garcia would get outclassed in a surprise world title shot at 140lbs before the 25-year-old missed weight, leading to more controversy and a financial penalty as the ugly build-up intensified before his duel against amateur foe Devin Haney last weekend. He dropped the two-division champion three times en route to a stunning upset win though, so what’s next for both?
Haney retains title despite startling MD12 loss
112-112, 114-110, 115-109: Ryan Garcia bt. Devin Haney via majority decision
Many didn’t expect this fight to capture the attention quite as it ultimately did, whether by the location change – Las Vegas to New York – or one fighter’s increasingly unhinged behaviour in the build-up serving as a cautionary tale for what can happen when money and fame combine to make an unappetising cocktail.
That makes Ryan Garcia’s majority decision win over a previously-unbeaten two-division world champion in Devin Haney all the more surprising, even with their well-documented amateur history serving as one of the many storylines explored for this Game 7 narrative they continued to run with during the fight promotion.
Familiarity foreshadowed Haney’s downfall during a spirited but spectacular defeat when he was least expecting it. After all, his last outing was a welcome light-welterweight debut, where he outboxed Regis Prograis and looked ominous taking apart Rougarou back in December yet here the champ was the smaller man for once.
Garcia drew first blood, landing a left hook counter as Haney extended his left-hand to paw out the jab and didn’t see it coming. He seriously wobbled the champion during an exciting first round, and soon the same sequence would repeat itself.
The brain fog had disappeared and Haney refocused in the second, landing an overhand right among other shots though Garcia still possessed danger with his left hand whenever throwing it, whizzing wildly and enthused by early success.
Haney tried to make his presence felt against a bigger man in a scrappy and aggressive third, before looking to pin his old amateur against the ropes in the fourth.
Patterns following the same happened during rounds five and six, Haney forced to work on the inside and target body attacks as Garcia moved plenty while often making referee Harvey Dock break up their exchanges in the pocket.
It didn’t make for good viewing, though the underdog would flash a furious flurry to start the sixth as jeopardy still lingered and Haney powered forward.
Round seven though, is where this main event sharply turned on its head.
Just as DAZN’s Chris Mannix was talking to Devin’s father-and-trainer Bill in the corner asking him how things were looking at the halfway point, it was almost as if he had a sixth sense that something drastic was about to unfold.
That it certainly did, Garcia unloaded another flurry near centre ring before cracking Haney clean with another whipping left hook and while he tried desperately, the champion couldn’t stop himself falling to the canvas for the first time in his career.
Garcia was promptly given a point deduction for illegally hitting after the official had separated them, Haney falling over twice more in quick succession with the underdog’s hands aloft looking into the crowd, job seemingly complete.
Dock deducts a point, Garcia growing in confidence
Neither sequence was credited with a knockdown and Haney held on whenever he could, keen to gather his bearings again. Still those legs seemed shaky in the eighth, assured body language disappeared by this stage and replaced by urgency.
He’d won the subsequent two rounds on Mannix’s unofficial scorecard, which flashed across the screen to start round ten, before the analyst’s curse struck once more as Garcia scored another knockdown – just as he was being criticised for lacking constant effective work. You couldn’t script this any better, if you tried.
That sequence typified what proved a crazy night in New York, one akin to Anthony Joshua’s stunning stoppage loss by Andy Ruiz Jr five years ago this summer.
Any boxer can be made to look bad, dropped or beaten but a defensively disciplined Haney being floored by the same shot multiple times was jarring to see given his seasoned fundamentals and you could sense that coming across in the crowd too.
Garcia was giddy again as the self-confidence would’ve soared, aware his flashes of success had turned this fight on its head, even if the third man in the ring felt more like a Haney apologist during these fiery moments than neutral referee.
Haney somehow stayed on his feet after absorbing another left in the tenth, buckled legs and weary eyes, but a third knockdown came in the next stanza as Garcia’s straight right through the guard set up another left hook to catch him clean again.
Celebrating briefly in the neutral corner by standing on the first rope, hands aloft, King Ry thought it was all over but Haney refused to surrender. Although he prodded father Bill to, another act of showmanship, that didn’t feel a likely outcome either.
Garcia’s unorthodox shoulder rolls left him open to cuffing body shots on the inside, he was losing the bulk of their rounds quite clearly and still, Haney needed a knockdown himself to shift things in his favour during a rather dramatic final round.
So then, what’s next?
It didn’t come and while retaining his title is a consolation prize, after Garcia came into their contest 3.2lbs overweight, there will be an inquest over the coming weeks about just how this happened – losing a competitive decision to an old amateur opponent is one thing, though the way things unravelled can’t happen again.
Much was said about his coaching team, those working with him behind-the-scenes whether on film study and training to strength-and-conditioning.
The latter is the only reason he heard the final bell, but it’s quite damning to think the exact same shot evaporated his invincibility like that. You can’t just use the overconfidence excuse either, as much as some may point that as a mitigating factor.
Haney still has a plan to become undisputed at light-welter, reportedly telling promoter Eddie Hearn to satisfy mandatory challenger Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs) and make that matchup next, to avoid being stripped of his WBC title. Although the Spanish southpaw is a far less attractive draw than a Garcia rematch, it makes sense.
Other light-welterweight world champions
WBA: Isaac Cruz
IBF: Subriel Matias
WBO: Teofimo Lopez
Haney-Lopez is another future fight that sells itself, while newly-crowned WBA champion Isaac Cruz is already preparing to make a voluntary title defence against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela on a stacked August 3 card headlined by Israil Madrimov vs. undisputed welterweight king Terence Crawford for WBA light-middleweight gold.
Garcia has the luxury of doing as he pleases, especially after a career-best win here, even if he can’t safely make the 140lb limit after agreeing to a 143lb catchweight bout for his eighth-round stoppage win over Oscar Duarte back on December 2.
There are many examples of star attractions before him that prove winning world titles and defending them numerous times against all comers while admirable, doesn’t mean everything in boxing – an entertainment sport as much as anything.
Listed as a welterweight on BoxRec, it feels fitting that during a time of flux in the division, Garcia could find his way into more big-money fights as he tests himself against another cohort of contenders keen to expose his defensive deficiencies.
That isn’t just at 147lbs either, as fights with former unified light-welterweight world champion Jose Ramirez and the aforementioned Cruz have been linked and Garcia has history brewing with both. As far as other names are concerned…
IBF interim world champion Jaron Ennis was mentioned as a potential foe, likewise Britain’s Conor Benn and even former unified titleholder Errol Spence Jr – who split from Garcia’s current trainer Derrick James last year in the wake of his one-sided beating by Crawford in their long-awaited undisputed matchup. Options aplenty.
Just when you think you know what’s coming next, boxing throws another curveball without warning. That’s two now in a matter of weeks, after now-former WBO world light-middleweight champion Tim Tszyu’s unbeaten streak was ended in a controversial affair laced with blood against an opportunistic Sebastian Fundora.
Picture source: Getty Images
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