Ryan Garcia feels he’ll be viewed as a legitimate world champion by defeating Devin Haney for his WBC light welterweight title than he would have if he’d gone through with his plans to fight Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero to relieve him of his WBA 140-lb strap.
The real question is, why on earth did Ryan Garcia ever consider fighting Rolly in the first place? I mean, how did Ryan allow Floyd Mayweather Jr., Rolly’s promoter, to convince him to go in that direction briefly?
Couldn’t Ryan think for himself and see that he would be viewed as a joke in fighting that paper champion, Romero, whom the boxing world views as a 100% fake champ after his controversial ninth-round TKO win over 40-year-old Ismael Barroso last May?
Seeking Legitimacy
Earlier today, the 25-year-old Ryan stated that he is now in negotiations to fight Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) next for his WBC 140-lb strap, and he’s no longer thinking about facing Rolly, who is already signed to defend against Isaac Cruz on March 30th.
“Do I want to beat the guy that represents being a champion? Yes. I don’t feel like Rolly Romero represents being a champion. If I beat him, I wouldn’t have called myself a champion. I’d just say I have a belt. When I beat Devin Haney, I can consider myself a champion,” said Ryan Garcia to Fighthype.
A win over Rolly Romero would have been a situation where Ryan would be viewed by boxing fans as just as much an illegitimate champion as him, and it would have done zero in terms of credibility for his career.
Is Haney a True Benchmark?
Just like the opportunist Devin Haney, who has won his two-division world titles against flawed champions George Kambosos Jr. and Regis Prograis.
Haney’s not viewed as a real champion in the eyes of some boxing fans because he cherry-picked an older fighter, 35-year-old Prograis, to capture his WBC 140-lb belt rather than facing the true champs, IBF champion Subriel Matias or WBO belt-holder Teofimo Lopez
If Ryan REALLY wants to be viewed as a legitimate champion at 140, he needs to bite the bullet and face Matias or Teofimo. Forget about the weight bully and opportunist, Haney, and focus on the killers, Matias and Teofimo.