Ryan Garcia picks Devin Haney to beat Tank Davis

By Boxing News - 06/22/2022 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia believes undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney would beat WBA ‘regular’ champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis if and when that match happens.

Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) is currently tied down with a rematch against George Kambosos Jr, and who knows when he’ll get a chance to fight Tank Davis (27-0, 25 KOs).

For the Tank-Haney fight to happen, Haney will need to beat Kambosos later this year and hope his promoters at Top Rank give him the green light to face Tank.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to occur. Top Rank will likely steer Haney in the direction of Vasily Lomachenko if he’s back from the warzone or faces Shakur Stevenson if he’s willing to come up in weight from 130.

Shakur is slowing the progress of his career with his assistance of trying to become the undisputed champion at super featherweight rather than moving up to the lightweight division to face the more prominent names like Haney, Tank Davis, Ryan Garcia, or Kambosos.

“Was it boring? Yes. Could he have shown flashes of the killer’s instinct? Yeah,” said Ryan Garcia to the DAZN Boxing show on Devin Haney’s recent win over unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. on June 5th.

“I would probably give the edge to Devin a little bit, but ‘Tank’ can always knock out with one punch. He could knock anybody out with one punch. He could even knock me out. I’m excited about all these fights.”

Likely, Ryan Garcia is just trolling Tank Davis by leaning in the direction of Haney to beat him.

If Ryan gets Tank upset enough, he might throw him a bone by agreeing to fight him later this year in a cash-out for the inexperienced Golden Boy promoted YouTuber.

Most boxing fans would agree that Tank Davis would be too much for the 23-year-old Haney at this early stage in his career. Haney getting hurt by Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. and Jorge Linares clearly indicates that he’s NOT ready for a fighter like Tank Davis.

“Some people just don’t have that, and he doesn’t have that,” Ryan said of Haney lacking the “killer instinct” needed to impress. “When he gets in there with me, he’s going to have the killer instinct, and he knows what I’m talking about.

“Devin’s not like that, and he just boxed his way to a victory. I don’t know how many people will be interested in it,” said Ryan when asked if Kambosos is smart to exercise his rematch clause to force a second fight with Haney.

“If they’re willing to sell that fight again, that’s on them. Hopefully, they get paid. I’m focused on Fortuna. I just know Fortuna comes to fight, and I want an aggressive fighter against me.

“To me, Javier was the perfect opponent for myself, and to set up a fight with Tank, it makes the most sense. He’s [Fortuna], a short southpaw that’s very aggressive.

“He’s a veteran and a little crafty in there whether people think it or not. To me, it prepares me for Tank that much more than Jojo [Diaz Jr]. For me, that’s the best option because my mind is set on fighting Gervonta Davis.”

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