By Sean Jones: Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney ruled out the option of him giving Ryan Garcia a title shot because he’s not interested in Instagram followers.
Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) says his focus is on his legacy, not building up his social media followers by fighting the famous YouTube/Instagram star Ryan Garcia.
Ryan is a hybrid boxer/social media personality who has used his popularity to attract huge crowds and make a lot of money against gimme opposition. He hasn’t faced anyone with a pulse, yet he’s made massive money.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ryan Garcia’s net worth is $10 million, and this is for a fighter whose best career opponent is Luke Campbell.
The guy that Haney wants is Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. That would be a massive fight between the two stars at 135, and the winner would be perceived as the top dog.
Devin, 23, recently dethroned unified 135-lb champion George Kambosos Jr. (20-1, 10 KOs) on June 5th, schooling the previously unbeaten Australian in front of his own fans in Melbourne, Australia.
“He’s popular, but I’m chasing legacy. I don’t care about Instagram followers, I want to make the biggest fights happen for my legacy. I’m not fighting for followers, I’m fighting for my name to live on forever,” said Devin Haney to MMAFighting.
Tank Davis is expected to give Ryan Garcia an undeserved title shot in November or December, so he doesn’t have the same qualms about fighting him that Haney does.
There wouldn’t be a problem if Ryan actually proved himself by fighting quality opposition like Jeremiah Nakathilia, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz, but he hasn’t stepped up.
“I was getting tired of his acting and persona. It was fake, and like WWE,” said Haney about George Kambosos Jr. seeming fake. “I was like, ‘Be yourself. We all see right through it.’ That’s what I was tired of. ”Why are you acting?’
“I knew he was embarrassed for the most part,” said Haney about Kambosos failing to make weight on the first two tries on the scale. “That just shows he was embarrassed. He couldn’t even admit it that his scale was off,” about Kambosos blaming his weight issues on him playing mind games with the “Art of War.”
Kambosos sounded like he’d lost his senses completely when he started babbling about the “art of war” when he was explaining why he came in overweight at the weigh-in.
“He just had to come up with a new narrative, and that just shows that he was acting. It could have been two million people there. I was ready to lock in and it was just me and him in there.
“Never even close,” Haney said when asked if he’d been hurt by Kambosos. “I was never even hurt. Me and my team did a great job of studying him, and we dissected him,” said Haney.
