Devin Haney threatens not to attend today’s Los Angeles press conference to promote his April 20th fight against Ryan Garcia. WBC light welterweight champion Haney didn’t say why he’d not attend, but it’s believed he’s frustrated with Ryan’s dominant presence.
Jealousy or Out of His Depth?
Some feel that Haney is jealous at being upstaged by Ryan, and he doesn’t want to endure another day of it after their initial press conference this week in New York. Being overshadowed by Ryan’s social media skills and stardom could be hard to take for Devin.
“I’m not going to that press conference tomorrow.. this dude Ryan wasting mine & everybody’s time foh,” said Haney on X.
The Influencer Advantage
The comment by Haney shows how exasperated he is; perhaps he’s starting to know that he’s over his head and incapable of matching Ryan in the marketing skills department.
Ryan is an influencer with 11 million followers, so he would be out of his league trying to hold his own with that type of star. Haney’s reserved, bookish personality doesn’t fit in for this event, so he needs another person to talk to him. Bill is doing a great job, but Devin needs another person to feed him the lines.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) was there in body only during the New York press conference on Tuesday, watching his dad, Bill, and Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) doing all the promoting with the interesting comments and back-and-forth trash talk.
Devin isn’t good at that kind of thing, and when he attempted some banter, it seemed forced and stiff, like an old-fashioned person trying to sound hip. His dad, Bill, and Ryan had the media eating out of their hands.
If Haney doesn’t show up, he won’t be missed. He’s just like a wallflower and not helping to promote, completely useless. It won’t be a big deal if Devin doesn’t show up today for the LA press conference. Bill and Ryan will be the ones talking anyway.
Ryan’s Bold Prediction
“This fight is going to do another million PPV buys, and I feel like I’m the next one. That’s it,” said Ryan Garcia to the Breakfast Club YouTube channel, talking about his fight against Devin Haney on April 20th.
“I’m looking at numbers. I’m thinking about how I have to promote. I’m looking at everything. I got it,” Ryan continued. “Give me that spot. I got it, trust me.”
“So, you think you’re a bigger star than Canelo if he doesn’t fight Benavidez?” said Akin Reyes.
“Yes,” said Ryan. “I’ll be on record to say that. Everyone is going to make their own opinion. I’m looking at how much upside I have, too. He’s [Canelo] on the end tail of his [career], and I’m at the beginning, and I’m only going to get bigger. It’s not going to stop, so who is the next tone?
“It has to be me. I should take that May 4th date. Vegas knows. I got all the high rollers coming and everything. I got it all figured out. I don’t know. They said it was alright,” said Ryan when asked how his fight with Oscar Duarte did in terms of numbers. “You need a dance partner. That’s why I didn’t put it on PPV.”
