Ryan Garcia is laser-focused and single-minded about knocking Devin Haney out, not making him quit, next month when they meet for their mega-fight on April 20th on DAZN PPV at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With all the flak Ryan has received from fans and the media lately, he almost has to shoot for the knockout to prove his doubters wrong. He’s been getting dumped on nonstop by people, with them thinking he’s gone mental, needing to be institutionalized, and slacking.
Why a KO Matters
Knocking out Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) is the best way for Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) to make a statement and build a case for a lucrative rematch with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
If Haney is forced to quit, it won’t be as emphatic a win for the 25-year-old Ryan as knocking him clean out in a high-light reel fashion as he did against Francisco Fonseca when he scored a first-round KO in 2020.
A stoppage by Ryan would leave the door open for Bill Haney, Devin’s dad, to argue that the referee made the wrong call by waiving it off. Bill will plant the idea into fans’ heads that Devin was wronged and paint a picture that there was a conspiracy.
A knockout like that is the gold standard Ryan should be looking for in this fight with Haney since it would give him the most attention and open the doors for a rematch with Tank Davis.
“I’m not even going to make him quit; I’m just going to knock him the f** out,” said Ryan Garcia to DAZN about his intentions for his fight against WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney on April 20th.
Haney’s Counter-Strategy
The game plan by Haney will be to box Ryan, as he did Regis Prograis and George Kambosos Jr, to stay away from his left hook.
Ryan is much more dangerous than any of Haney’s past opponents, so he will always play it safe by keeping the action on the outside, jabbing, moving, and tying up Kingry.
We saw how Haney’s tactics had Kambosos mentally tied in knots in their two fights. Devin is obviously going to employ the same strategy against Ryan to frustrate him with his offense-neutralizing tactics.