Trainer Andre Rozier sees it as pointless for Devin Haney to rematch Ryan Garcia, given that he plans to compete at welterweight.
Rozier says it wouldn’t “bode well” for Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) to fight Ryan again because Kingry is so much bigger. Instead, Rozier states that Haney will need to defend his WBC light welterweight title against his mandatory next. That would be Sandor Martin.
Rozier says he still sees Haney as the #1 fighter at 140, even though he lost to Ryan by a 12-round majority decision last week. He points out that Ryan wasn’t a light welterweight due to him coming in 3.2 lbs over the 140-lb limit.
Rozier says there should be an asterisk about Ryan’s win because he came in overweight, and that’s not fair.
Haney Still the Top Lightweight
“It looks like Ryan is going to 147. He says he can’t make 140, so why have a rematch? I don’t think it would bode well for Devin to fight him at a catchweight. He [Ryan] looked so much bigger than Devin that it wasn’t even funny,” said trainer Andre Rozier to Fighthype about what’s next for Devin Haney.
“He’s still a world champion. I’m going to rock with him,” said Rozier when asked if he still sees Haney as #1 at 140. “This wasn’t even a title-contention fight to begin with. I’m going to say he’s still #1 until he meets someone at 140 and they fight for those championships.”
Boxing fans no longer view Haney as the #1 fighter in the 140-lb division because he was so easily beaten by Ryan. It doesn’t matter that Ryan didn’t make weight. He still won and made Haney look vulnerable.
“Pivotal,” said Rozier on how much of a factor Ryan Garcia coming in 3.2 lbs overweight played in the outcome of his win over Haney. “It wasn’t just the three pounds. He was not going to make weight. He didn’t have to sacrifice and suffer getting down to the weight.
“So, he was truly comfortable where he was at, and what did he do? He got even bigger after that. Fantastic ploy, by the way. Great maneuvering, great strategy. He didn’t care about the title. He just wanted to win the fight.
“Of course, because it was supposed to be for the belt, and he didn’t make weight. One man did and one man didn’t,” said Rozier about whether Ryan should have an asterisk next to his win in the win column. “Of course, there’s a shade to it.”
