NEW YORK – Ryan Garcia trolled his viewers into believing he was crazy, then turned around to beat Devin Haney by decision at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 20.
Two out of the three judges scorecards had Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) winning at 115-109 and 114-110. The final judge decided a draw 112-112 for both fighters, leaving Garcia with majority decision.
Garcia and Haney started off the fight strong, and the judges gave the first round to Garcia. The fight quickly took a turn, as Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) was able to outbox Garcia until the seventh-round. Garcia caught Haney with a withering hook in the seventh-round, and knocked down Haney.
Garcia caught Haney with the same punch from the seventh-round and knocked down Haney again in Round-10. Garcia caught Haney yet again in Round-11. Haney’s eyes flew to the back of his head, as he fell back, bloody and distraught.
Somehow, Haney found the strength to get back up and finish the last and final rounds without failure. Regardless, the two rounds 10-8 was given that Garcia would be able to take the win.
“Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy? You done lost your whole mind,” Garcia said after the fight.
Due to Garcia’s devastating loss to Gervonta Davis, people no longer knew what to expect from Garcia. Garcia had viewers taken aback due to his outlandish behavior in public and social media, like when he chugged a whole beer before his weigh-in, and his barking during the press conference.
Viewers along with Haney, did not believe Garcia was taking this fight seriously, let alone his boxing career.
“My balls got too heavy, and back gained too much muscle from carrying promo. And my fingers got stronger from all these tweets, damn,” Garcia said in a tweet.
His problematic behavior wasn’t the only thing his audience was questioning. They were also concerned for his psychiatric health. At the weigh-in, Garcia bet Haney $500,000 for every pound he was over the 140-pound limit. Garcia ended up 3.2 pounds overweight.
“Why would I force myself to make weight so I can be weak, Nah I’m here to win. That’s it,” Garcia said in a tweet.
The odds were against Garcia. This had Haney, along with viewers, debating if Garcia was “over-hyped”. Haney had been working up to this fight and conquering each weight division. Despite the defeat, Haney still holds the WBC super-lightweight champion belt, due to Garcia’s not making weight.
This was not Garcia and Haney’s first encounter. These two have a long amateur boxing history with a tied record of 3-3. As they progressed to the pros, Haney was able to grasp a stronger resume than Garcia.
Although Garcia was able to take the win, he was unable to take Haney’s WBC super-lightweight belt.
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