WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney dismissed his opponent Ryan Garcia, labeling him an “influencer” ahead of their fight on April 20th on DAZN PPV.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) has been pushing for this fight with Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) since he turned pro in 2015, but now that he’s got the bout, he views him as seemingly unworthy.
Haney: Jealous Much?
That begs the question, why did Haney want to fight Ryan so badly? Is it just money and an easy mark? If Devin views Ryan as a mere “influencer, why didn’t he fight IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias in a unification?
Haney could have taken that fight if he had felt that Ryan wasn’t a serious fighter, but he chose not to. That suggests that Devin is a cherry-picker and not confident in taking on the best at 140.
“This is what I signed up for fighting a guy like Ryan Garcia, who’s mostly an influencer these days and doesn’t really take boxing seriously,” Haney told Chris Mannix on X.
What really could be eating away at Haney is jealousy. He sees Ryan with his 11 million Instagram followers and his past PPV success, and he’s envious of what he has going for him.
Fans Aren’t Buying What Haney’s Selling
Despite winning world titles in two divisions, Haney has failed to become popular and establish himself as a PPV draw. His last fight against Regis Prograis was a PPV disaster, bringing in only 50K buys on DAZN.
The event showed that fans don’t enjoy watching Haney fight. His fighting style resembles Shakur Stevenson’s but with more holding. People don’t want to pay $75 to watch a defensive fighter who holds nonstop and mostly uses jabs.
That fighting style is not what this generation’s fans want to see. Haney is not going to change that, no matter how jealous and dismissive he is about Ryan, because the problem is within himself. He’s got to change the way he fights, stay in the pocket, focus on power, and stop running and holding.