Ryan Garcia to Devin Haney: ‘I’m the REAL champ’

By Boxing News - 02/15/2020 - Comments

By Dean Berman: WBC ‘Champion in Recess’ 135lb belt holder Devin Haney got in the face of Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia last Friday night and the two jawed at each other moments after Ryan’s first round knockout of Francisco Fonseca (25-3-2, 19 KOs) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) made it clear that he wants to fight Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) next. But when Garcia heard that, he gleefully said, “I’m the champ.” This seemed to upset Haney, who was stripped of his WBC lightweight title recently by the World Boxing Council after he suffered a shoulder injury in his successful first title defense against Alfredo Santiago last November.

Haney challenged Ryan to fight him next. That’s not going to happen. Ryan said Haney will need to wait until 2021, and then he’ll assess whether the fight is worthwhile to make.

It’ll depend on how Haney has been looking in his fights before that, because Garcia, 21, says Devin didn’t look good in his last fight against Santiago. Haney won the fight, but he struggled all the way through against the lanky 5’11” Santiago.

Before Haney gets a shot at Ryan, the Golden Boy phenom plans on fighting these three guys in this order: Jorge Linares, Luke Campbell and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

Ryan Garcia surprised at how easy Fonseca fight was

“So what does that mean about Gervonta, and what does that mean about Tevin Farmer,” said Ryan Garcia to secondsout when told that Devin Haney had been arguing with Bernard Hopkins about how Ryan hadn’t accomplished anything fighting Fonseca “They fought the same person, and had hell of problems with him. I knocked him out cold.

“I was like fighting him [Fonseca], I had the thought in my mind, ‘How did Gervonta and Devin even go around with this guy?'” said Garcia on Fonseca. “All the respect to Fonseca. That’s a good chill dude, a good respectful dude, but I was literally in the ring like, ‘Are you serious?’ My level must be crazy right now, because I saw that shot from a mile away,” said Kingry Garcia.

What Garcia showed in his win over Fonseca last Friday is how difficult it is to get past his left hook. Ryan throws that shot with a lot of speed, power and he’s deadly accurate with it. On top of that, Garcia’s left hook is thrown in a wide manner, and that makes it hard to see.

Tevin Farmer and Tank Davis both were hitting Fonseca with uppercuts and right hands. Ryan took a different approach in shooting left hooks that he wasn’t able to see.

Ryan Garcia: ‘Haney isn’t the champ. I am’

“Nah, nah, nah, as I ready proclaimed it last year, I’m going to get [Jorge] Linares next, and then I’m going to get Luke Campbell, and then I’m going to beat down Tank [Davis],” said Kingry Garcia when asked if he’ll be fighting Haney next. “Then in 2021, we’re going to see where Devin is at, because I’m putting up the performances. Where’s yours? You know, you’re a f— champion, so you’re calling me out. What does that mean?

“I’m the REAL f— champ! I’m the champ,” said Garcia in invalidating Haney as a champion. “If you’re calling me out, then I’m the f— champ. You ain’t the champ, and I told him to his face. ‘If you’re a champ, then I’m a champ.’ I turned up on him, and he knows it. I have respect for him though.

“He’s a talented fighter, a fast jab, and good boxing skills,” said Garcia in changing his tone suddenly on the subject of Haney. “He didn’t have a good performance [in his last fight against Alfredo Santiago]. Maybe he needs to assess himself a little bit, but I want him to be great so we can have a great fight,” said Garcia.

Ryan might not beat the three guys that he’s hoping to face in Linares, Campbell and Tank Davis. But if Garcia does beat all three, Haney might not even be someone that would be worthy for him to fight in 2021. Boxing fans will be pushing Garcia to take on Vasiliy Lomachenko or Teofimo Lopez by that point in time rather than Haney.

It’s still too early for Ryan and Haney to fight because both guys are 21, and they haven’t done enough for a fight between them to be huge yet.

Garcia needs more variety with his offense

Eventually, Garcia could get in trouble against a fighter that time’s him and throws a straight right hand at the moment that he’s looking to let loose with his left hook smash.

Heavyweight Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock was known for having a devastating left hook that he threw to knockout his opponents. However, when Ruddock met up with Lennox Lewis in October 1992, he was knocked out in the 2nd round.

Lewis waited for Ruddock to load up with his left hook, and he nailed him with a straight right hand and knocked him out. Fighters that become dependent on their left hooks to win their fights, they often get found out when they fight a skilled fighter that hits them with right hands.