By Dan Ambrose: Devin Haney was at ringside last Saturday night and witnessed Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) knocking out Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs) in the sixth round at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) didn’t sound awed by the performance of the unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia, saying that he did what he had to do.
Devin says it’s hard to tell if Ryan has improved tonight because the 33-year-old Fortuna is no longer in his prime.
Fortuna looked like he wasn’t even trying to win, which made it im[[possible to tell if Ryan has made improvements since switching out trainer Eddy Reynoso in favor of Joe Goosen.
The shots that Ryan landed on Fortuna to score three knockdowns didn’t look overly powerful in comparison to some of the big punchers in the 140-lb division.
Goosen might have been going overboard when he compared Ryan’s power to that of heavyweights. Tonight, Ryan didn’t look that powerful and fighting in a straight up and down style.
Fortuna was able to land some nice shots in the fight due to Ryan standing straight up and down like a skinny wetlands bird.
“He did what he was supposed to do. Fortuna is crafty, but he got him out of there. We all knew he was going to get him out of there,” said Devin Haney to Fighthype, reacting to Ryan Garcia’s sixth-round knockout win over Javier Fortuna.
“His defense looked a little sharper tonight,” said Haney when asked if Ryan showed improvements. “It was hard to tell because Javier Fortuna isn’t really in his prime anymore,” said Haney.
If Ryan were staying at 135, his chances for future success would be strong as long as he steered clear of Haney, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Gervonta Davis. Those guys will likely beat Ryan without too many problems.
Going up to 140 is sending Ryan Garcia down the same path as fighters like Adrien Broner. AB was an excellent fighter at 130 & 135, but when he moved up to 140 & 147, his career went downhill.
“If he says he’s ready for Tank. He says he’s ready for the big fights. He should be in a big fight,” said Haney about Ryan calling out Tank Davis.
“We got to see. I want to fight the best fighters in the world. I’ve been saying it for a while now. I’m not ducking or dodging nobody. Whoever it is, I’m ready for them. In October, I’ll be back in the ring against who knows,” said Haney.
