Ryan Garcia says he views himself as the A-side attraction for his fight against WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney on April 20th in Las Vegas.
With Ryan’s 11 million Instagram followers, he’s the A-side for this fight and will be the one to bring in the fans and the PPV buys on April 20th. Devin might as well be a cardboard prop for the promotion because he’s not expected to do much to get fans excited about the fight.
In Ryan’s mind, “Mr. 30K” Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) only brings just a belt to their fight, whereas he’s a “bigger draw” and has “way more upside than him.” Unfortunately for Haney, that’s true. Devin has no exciting fighting style like Ryan, Subriel Matias, or Gervonta Davis.
What Haney has going for him is his WBC 140-lb title and a dad, Bill, who gets fans interested with his trash talk and bragging.
Bigger Draw, Bigger Future
“That guy was strong, and he knew what he was doing. That was a more dangerous fight than Regis Prograis. Regis is a good fighter, but he started boxing late, and you can tell,” said Ryan Garcia to Ariel Helwani’s YouTube channel, saying his last opponent, Oscar Duarte, was better than Devin Haney’s last foe, 35-year-old Prograis.
Regis looked faded against Haney and was not the same fighter that had come close to defeating Josh Taylor in 2019. We saw in Prograis’ previous fight against little-known second-tier fighter Danielito Zorrilla that he had nothing left. He was too old and past it. The judges gave Prograis a gift decision, but the boxing world saw it as a loss.
“I’m going to end my career with him,” said Ryan about his trainer Derrick James. “I know I’m the bigger draw, the better marketer, and have way more upside than him. He has belts, and that’s it, but I’m the A-side. In boxing, ‘A-side’ means the bigger draw,” said Ryan when asked ‘Who is the A-side’ for his fight against Haney on April 20th.
Devin is hitching a ride on Ryan’s coattails for this fight and will take advantage of him, bringing in all the buys. Moving beyond this fight, Haney will need to change how he fights and get a marketer to do the interviews for him.
Devin can’t depend on his dad, Bill, because he’s not always on point, and it is hard to understand what he’s saying when he’s not scripted. Haney needs an Eddie Hearn type that is upbeat and gives a lot of interviews. Bill doesn’t make sense half the time and is useless.
Shots Fired at Haney’s Skills
“People say in boxing the A-side is the better boxer. Nah, it doesn’t always work that way, and he’s not the better boxer, point, blank and period. He’s not, and I’m going to show you that. I’ve fought him many times in the amateurs, and he’s not that,” said Ryan.
If Haney keeps putting on weight between fights, he won’t be able to make 140 for long. He’s going to be forced to move up to 147, 154, or 160, and his chances of beating the sharks in those divisions are slim.
“I looked like a staw fighting him. You’re happy that you fought that guy?” said Ryan about being drained for his fight against Gervonta Davis due to the weight stipulations. I really lit the sport on fire after that.
Gervonta Davis and the Pursuit of Mega-Money
“I was chilling. I made $30 million; I wasn’t at my best. I didn’t really care,” said Garcia when asked if it was hard to digest his loss to Tank. “If you want to make $100 million in one night. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to,” said Ryan when asked if he thinks Gervonta won’t want to fight him again. “I think I’m the only guy he can do that with him.”
