Devin Haney feels that Ryan Garcia has done nothing at the elite level to suggest that he’s on his level for their fight on April 20th.
Haney (31-0,15 KOs), the WBC light welterweight champion, notes that the only time Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) stepped it up against an elite-level fighter, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, saying he quit on one knee, resembling former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who had a habit of taking a knee rather than standing during the American national anthem during his career.
Haney Claims Garcia is Levels Below
“I feel like I’m levels above him [Ryan Garcia],” Haney said to DAZN Boxing. “I feel like when he fought on the elite level (in his loss to Gervonta], he quit. The world watched him take a knee, watched him Colin Kaepernick.”
Haney’s comparison of Ryan to Kaepernick suggests that he views him as lacking the toughness to stick it out if the fight gets tough.
Of course, the recent sparring video of Haney needing to be saved by Adrien Broner from being knocked out by Tank Davis doesn’t say much about him.
Gervonta dominated Haney in a sparring session that resembled a massacre more than training, and it was pretty clear from watching it that he was at the level of the Baltimore native.
Defining ‘Elite Level’
Haney talks of Ryan not being ready for the “elite level,” which implies that’s where he views himself. But has Haney, 26, done enough during his career to be viewed as an elite-level fighter?
Can we say that Haney is elite, given the level of opposition he’s faced during his professional career? Haney does have a victory over the talented former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko, but it was controversial, and he looked much bigger than the 35-year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist.
It’s fair to say that if Lomachenko were the same size as Haney and the same age with quality judges working, it would have been a one-sided win for the Ukrainian talent. When you’ve got a fighter who rehydrates 30 lbs and comes into the fight in the mid-160s, you will have a tremendous advantage against smaller foes, as we’re seeing Haney do.
For Haney to be an elite-level fighter in the true sense, he would need to beat the best fighters instead of carefully selecting his opposition.
Fighters Haney needs to be for him to classify as elite:
- Subriel Matias
- Shakur Stevenson
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
- Tim Tszyu
- Terence Crawford
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr.
- Teofimo Lopez
- Gervonta Davis
Considering that Haney is rehydrating to 165 lbs for his fights, he should fight bigger opposition his size, like Boots, Morrell, Benavidez, Janibek, and Tszyu.
Is Garcia Ready for Haney?
Ryan’s fight against Tank Davis showed that he wasn’t ready for an elite-level fighter with power, and now the question is, will he be better prepared for the April 20th clash against Haney?
Since we’ve determined that Haney is NOT an elite level fighter yet, you can conclude that Ryan has an excellent chance of winning this fight provided there’s no controversy.