Superstar Ryan Garcia’s decision to go towards a better-paying fight against Rolly Romero rather than his initial plan of facing less popular WBC 140-lb champion Devin Haney has confused Matchroom head honcho Eddie Hearn, calling it a “Weird” move.
Ryan says he changed his mind about wanting to fight Haney after learning that his December 9th title fight against Regis Prograis brought in “35K PPV buys” on DAZN, which are horribly poor numbers, showing that Devin is not a pay-per-view attraction.
In an interview last Saturday night, Kingry hinted that Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) wanted to be the A-side in the fight because he was the champion and former undisputed champ.
Ryan didn’t say anything about Haney’s reported rehydrated weight of 165 lbs for his fight with Prograis or the video that was leaked of the pure ghoulish ordeal that he went through to drain down to 140 rapidly.
165 is the kind of weight that fighters in the junior middleweight division rehydrate to, putting things in perspective about the type of fighter Haney is. Some fans see Devin as a textbook example of a weight bully.
Hearn’s Disappointment
“Weird, really weird. I mistakenly believed Ryan Garcia was a legacy guy who wanted to fight the top guys for the championship. But I can’t blame him for what he’s doing; he’s taking the easy route to a championship,” said Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, voicing his displeasure at Ryan choosing not to fight his guy, Haney.
If the shoe were on the other foot and Ryan Garcia was Hearn’s fighter, would he give the green light for him to face a non-PPV selling, 165 lb rehydrated weight bully who has nothing to offer, or would he go in the direction of a popular fighter with charisma, who can sell and is utterly beatable, like Rolly?
The Easy Money Route
Hearn views Ryan Garcia as going in the direction of taking an “easy” money route by his decision to face Rolly but fails to acknowledge the terrible alternative. Would it make sense for Ryan to fight the junior middleweight-sized Haney, who can’t sell PPV views and would be insisting on being the A-side?
There’s little chance that the Ryan vs. Haney fight would have been negotiated, and the time spent in talks would have been useless for Kingry.
Hearn should recommend Haney move up to 147 or 154, where he belongs, and have him fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis & Tim Tszyu to make a real name for himself rather than draining down to fight smaller opposition at 140.
