By Jim Maltzman: WBC lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney says he plans on defending his title against his secondary mandatory challenger Javier ‘El Abejon’ Fortuna if Ryan ‘Kingry’ Garcia chooses not to face him next.
Former WBA super featherweight champion Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) is ranked #2 with the World Boxing Council in their ranking at 135. The #1 ranked contender is Vasily Lomachenko.
If Haney had his way, he would likely prefer to face Loma, but Fortuna has already earned the secondary mandatory position. Lomachenko lost his last fight to Teofimo Lopez last October. He needs to fight in a WBC title eliminator if he wants to force a title shot against Haney.
Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) earned the WBC mandatory status last Saturday night with his victory over ‘Cool Hand’ Luke Campbell in Dallas, Texas.
Ryan beat Campbell by a seventh-round knockout to win both the WBC interim lightweight title and the mandatory position to challenge champion Haney (25-0, 15 KOs).
But to Haney’s disappointment, Ryan, 22, called out Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis after the fight with Luke at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Using a democratic approach, Ryan asked the crowd to tell him who they would prefer him to fight next between Haney and Tank Davis.
The crowd loudly booed Haney when Ryan mentioned his name, and they then cheered loudly when he offered them a fight with Tank Davis.
Ryan will likely bring the Tank Davis fight back to Texas, as it’s one of the few places in the U.S that allows crowds right now.
Fortuna the backup plan for Devin
“They’re both huge fights,” said Haney about Ryan’s options to face him or Tank Davis next. “Right now, the fight is easy to be made. He’s my mandatory, and we’re both on the same network [DAZN].
“The fight is easy to make. I think we should just go ahead and knock that one out.
“I’ve got another mandatory, and that’s Javier Fortuna. If I can’t get Ryan, we’re going to go towards Javier Fortuna. If Fortuna doesn’t want to fight, then we got to see what’s out there next in line,” said Haney.
Assuming Fortuna turns down the fight with Haney, it would likely come down to #5 Jorge Linares or #6 Francisco Vargas to face him for his mandated title defense.
Of course, the WBC could always order Haney to defend against #1 Lomachenko, but it’s unclear if Loma would agree to take that fight. He’s coming off shoulder surgery following his loss to Teofimo last October.
Haney reacts to Ryan Garcia getting knocked down
“I thought Ryan was going to go in there and walk right through him,” said Haney to Fino Boxing in talking about Ryan Garcia’s fight with Luke Campbell.
“I didn’t expect him to get knocked out and be in such a dogfight, but he showed that he’s a warrior and that he can fight through adversity.
“And I didn’t think the fight was over. I knew that Ryan was hurt, but I didn’t know if Luke would finish him or not, if he would or if he wouldn’t. I knew he was hurt,” said Devin in discussing his thoughts on Ryan being knocked down in round two by Campbell.
It was a surprise to many people seeing Ryan Garcia get knocked down hard by Luke Campbell in the second round. This was a hard knockdown in which Ryan was stunned.
Normally when fighters get knocked down like that, their opponents attempt to finish them. Campbell deviated from this practice by letting Ryan escape without going on the attack to finish the job.
Haney has got to like his chances of beating Ryan after watching the problems he had against Campbell.