Devin Haney on Tank Davis vs. Hector Garcia: “I kicked him [Hector] out of camp because he couldn’t keep up”

By Allan Fox: Devin Haney says Hector Luis Garcia is a tune-up-level opponent for Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ next fight on January 7th, not a threat to beating him.

According to Haney, Haney he used the unbeaten Hector Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs) as one of his sparring partners before his fight against Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz in December 2021, and he was forced to kick him out of camp because the Dominican couldn’t keep up with him.

Interestingly, the 2016 Olympian Hector has gone on to defeat highly ranked prospect Chris Colbert and WBA super featherweight champion Roger Gutierrez in 2022, so perhaps he’s a better fighter than Haney originally thought.

Sometimes talented fighters don’t go all out when they’re hired as sparring partners for well-known guys because if they give it 100%, they get booted from camp.

In this case, Hector got booted for not pushing Haney. You got to wonder if Hector would have been fired as a sparring partner if he gave Haney problems.

It’s hard to believe a fighter as talented as Hector was kicked out of Haney’s camp for not being able to keep up with him because he’s arguably a better fighter than the guys that have given him problems in the past.

Hector is a better fighter than Jorge Linares, who had Haney staggering around the ring. He’s also better than Jojo Diaz, a fighter who hurt Haney.

Haney’s choosing to diminish Hector Garcia as a fighter could be a sign of bitterness toward Tank Davis, as he’s arguably a bigger star than him, and he’s chosen to take a credible opponent that is attracting a lot of attention from the boxing world.

In contrast, Haney is still trying to negotiate a fight with 34-year-old Vasyl Lomachenko, who is coming off a less-than-impressive performance over Jamaine Ortiz on October 29th.

Hector Garcia kicked out of camp

“In boxing, every fight is a tune-up these days. How many tune-ups do you got to do? Tank has been doing tune-ups for how long now? Every fight is a f***ing tune-up,” said Devin Haney to Thaboxingvoice when asked about his thoughts on Ryan Garcia choosing not to take a tune-up before his April 15th fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

Haney doesn’t have room to talk about kicking dirt on Tank Davis for fighting many tune-up-level opponents during his nine-year professional career. Devin’s best wins have come against this mediocre bunch:

• George Kambosos Jr
• Jorge Linares – 36 at the time he fought  Devin
• Yuriorkis Gamboa – 39 when he fought Haney
• Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz – too small for 135-lb division

“I sparred him; he’s a tune-up,” said Haney about Hector Garcia. “He got kicked out of camp. I kicked him out of camp because he couldn’t last. I sparred him for the Jojo Diaz. I think I sparred him two times, three times, or something like that, and he just couldn’t keep up.

“I kicked him out and got someone else. Like I said, the guy [Hector Garcia], I really don’t rate him. I think Tank can’t take him lightly. He’s still an opponent. He’s hungry. You saw what he did to B-hop,” said Haney.

Given Hector Garcia’s impressive victories over Chris Colbert and Roger Gutierrez, he’s better than Haney is portraying him to be. You don’t beat those kinds of fighters as easily as Hector did if you’re just a ham & egger, as Haney is making him seem.

Again, if Hector didn’t impress Haney while working as a sparring partner for him, it’s likely that he purposefully fought at less than 100%, knowing of the possibility of him being fired from his job if he went all out.

It’s obviously difficult for Haney to understand what it’s like to be a guy working as a sparing partner because he’s been given the express ride to the top since early in his career, and he didn’t have to help out in that kind of a job to make money.

“Huge fights for me,” said Haney when asked what boxing fans can expect from him in 2023. “We start off with Loma, and then when I’m victorious, we’ll see what’s next. All big fights.

“I’ve been calling these guys out for a while. I’ve been calling out Loma since the beginning of me as a real contender, and now I’m finally getting him. It couldn’t be a better time.

“I told them a long time ago. You’d better fight me now before it’s too late. Now, it’s too late. He’ll see,” said Haney about Lomachenko.

Tank Davis can’t afford to lose

“He’s got to hope that come January 7th that [Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is successful against [Hector Luis] Garcia as we talked about,” said Dan Rafael to Boxing with Chris Mannix about Ryan Garcia needing to hope that Tank Davis doesn’t lose his tune-8p fight against Hector Garcia on Showtime PPV on January 7th.

“It’s not the easiest fight in the world, and by the way, he may have come out of nowhere, Garcia, but he’s undefeated, he’s an Olympian, and he’s got two upsets in a row [against Chris Colbert & Roger Gutierrez] that people didn’t really give him a chance to win.

“He’s earned the shot against Davis. What I like about Hector Luis Garcia is that after he beat Gutierrez this past summer, he automatically, within days of that fight, he was calling out Tank Davis.

“‘I’ll go up to 135 to fight him. If he wants to go down to 130 to challenge me for my title, no problem.’ He [Hector Garcia] wanted this fight as soon as he got that belt [WBA super featherweight title]. He wanted it before he got the belt.

“He’s motivated and hungry for this fight, and he also knows the kind of chaos that he can deal out to these guys if he derails Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis,” said Rafael about Hector.

“It’s not the same thing, but there could be a little Bivol-Canelo vibe to it in a way. Are we dis-counting Hector Luis Garcia coming into this fight?” said Chris Mannix.

“Hector Garcia is physically the bigger guy. Not that it’s been a problem for Tank before, but he’s [Hector] not coming in some undersized guy that is going to get swarmed. This is a good fight. I’m looking forward to it on January 7th,” said Mannix.