By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya says Devin Haney WON’T be getting a fight against Ryan Garcia until he builds his profile in the sport by fighting opposition that has the chance of beating him.
Even though he’s not a world champion now, De La Hoya states that Ryan is on another level than the unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Haney.
Oscar says Ryan’s plans are for him to fight Javier Fortuna on July 9th and then “revisit” fights against either Manny Pacquiao or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. After those matches are over, they’ll look in the direction of Haney (25-0, 15 KOs).
Unfortunately, by the time Ryan gets done with Pacquiao and Tank Davis, Haney may have already been dethroned by Jorge Linares or undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.
Haney is defending against the former three-division world champion Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) next month on May 29th on DAZN in Las Vegas. Although Haney, 22, is the favorite in that fight, it’s not 100% given that he’ll beat the stronger, faster Linares.
Haney must build his profile, says De La Hoya
“Yes, Ryan wanted to fight Pacquiao; yes, he wanted to fight Tank. And yes, we were going for Pacquiao and Tank, but they have their plans, said De La Hoya to the DAZN Boxing Show in reacting to Devin Haney saying that Ryan Garcia ducked him.
“Pacquiao isn’t going to fight in the U.S anytime soon. I believe he’s going to fight in the UAE or somewhere around there. We all what happened with Tank. It’s unfortunate.
“He’s an amazing fighter, but he has his issues he has to take care of. So Ryan has to fight. With Haney, I respect him and love him. But Haney has to build up his profile, his resume.
“He [Haney] has to fight somebody that has a chance to beat him. Just like Ryan Garcia facing Luke Campbell and Javier Fortuna in his next fight. That’s the way you can build and make big fights,” said De La Hoya.
It makes sense what De La Hoya says about Haney needing to build his fan base up by beating some quality fighters that will increase his name recognition. Right now, there would be an imbalance if Ryan were to fight Haney.
Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) has a huge following on social media, which makes him the equivalent of the champion above Haney. For Devin to catch up to where Ryan is at now, he’s going to need to beat these type of fighters:
- Teofimo Lopez
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Oscar Valdez
- Shakur Stevenson
- Richard Commey
- Gervonta Davis
- Masayoshi Nakatani
- Regis Prograis
- Jose Zepeda
Haney will need to think outside of the box by making himself available to fighting opposition from the 140-lb division and 135.
Devin needs to do that because he’s going to need to hurriedly move forward with his career if he wants to get a fight with Ryan Garcia soon.
Haney isn’t going to be able to complain and whine his way to a fight with Ryan by crying to the media in hopes that they’ll help pressure Golden Boy to make the fight.
De La Hoya: Ryan is on a different level than Haney
“Ryan right now, because of his popularity and who he’s fought, he’s actually at a different level than Haney, believe it or not, without a world title.
We have Javier Fortuna, and it’s going to be a great fight. After that, we can talk and revisit the issue with Pacquiao, with Tank, and with a possible Haney fight,” De La Hoya said.
It’s obvious that Ryan is levels above Haney in terms of popularity, and that’s what boxing is all about. Ryan has millions of followers on Instagram, and he’s popular on YouTube as well.
In contrast, Haney is an unknown, an email champion, thanks to the World Boxing Council elevating him to a WBC lightweight champ status.
Golden Boy attempted to make Pacquiao vs. Garcia
No, we did,” said De La Hoya when asked if it was Ryan that wanted the Pacquiao fight and not Golden Boy. “We did [want the Pacquiao vs. Ryan Garcia fight], and we talked to 30 people that he’s [Pacquiao] represented by, and we never talked to the source,” said De La Hoya.
Things could change for the better for Ryan if he beats Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) on July 9th. If Ryan stops Fortuna, it could open the door to a fight with Pacquiao or Gervonta Davis.
Fighting Pacquiao and Gervonta back to back will then put Ryan in a position to make huge money no matter who he fights.
Even if Haney is still an obscure fighter by that point, Ryan’s popularity would be at the level where he could singlehandedly bring in massive numbers no matter who he faces.