By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Ryan Garcia had mixed reactions to WBC lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney’s 12 round unanimous decision win over the experienced warhorse Jorge Linares last Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) clearly saw weakness in Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) that he feels he could have exploited had he been in there with him last Saturday night.
Ryan Garcia says he would have “Slept” Haney
“I would have slept you,” said Ryan Garcia on social media to Haney in reacting to his win last Saturday.
With the aggressive style that Ryan fights with when he has an opponent hurt, there’s an excellent chance that he would have finished Haney once he had him hurt the way Linares did in the 10th.
It’s quite possible that Ryan would have knocked Haney out after he was hurt.
With Ryan’s devastating power in his left hook, he would have made it a point to go after Haney to finish the job.
What we saw from Linares was a fighter that didn’t have the killer instinct to go for the finish after hurting Haney. He was fighting like he had another 10 rounds to go rather than just two after he Haney hurt in the 10th.
Linares let Haney off the hook by being too patient after hurting him late in the fight. He allowed Haney to hold him without fighting through the clinches the way an experienced fighter would have done.
There was only one instance in which Linares continued to throw punches while being held by Haney in rounds 10 through 12.
The unbeaten 22-year-old Haney was hurt in the 10th by Linares, and he had zero in the tank in rounds 11 and 12 and forced to hug nonstop to survive at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Haney showed no respect for the former three-division world champion Linares’ power and it cost him when he was hurt badly in the 10th round from a right to the head.
De La Hoya: Haney got rocked
“Both guys came out and proved that they’re at the highest levels,” said De La Hoya to Fighthype about Linares and Haney following their fight last Saturday.
“Haney is going to be a better fighter after this fight, and Linares is still Linares,” De La Hoya continued. “I think it was a great fight.
“He [Linares] rocked him, but that’s the experience that Linares brings to the table.
“You can’t careless with Linares because that’s exactly what will happen, but Haney has whiskers, and he elevated his game to another level.
“Ryan is always ready for anybody,” said De La Hoya when asked if Haney is ready for Ryan Garcia.
Interestingly, De La Hoya wasn’t talking up a fight between Ryan Garia and Haney when interviewed. You would think that after seeing the way Linares hurt Haney, De La Hoya would have been chomping at the bit to make the fight between him Ryan.
Does De La Hoya not have faith in Ryan to beat Haney or what? It’s a little troubling that Oscar wasn’t pushing hard for the Haney vs. Ryan Garcia fight after what he saw last Saturday night.
