Devin Haney is a whopping -750 favorite, while Ryan Garcia is at +500 and is seen as having little chance of winning on Saturday in their main event fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Those odds don’t bode well for the main event fight on DAZN PPV.
Did Garcia Shoot Himself in the Foot?
The event organizers have already lowered the prices of the tickets for the Barclays Center in response to poor sales for the near-empty venue. What we don’t know is whether Ryan’s bizarre social media posts and strange interviews contributed to the sales.
Ryan’s online antics, acting like he’s not all there at times, and WBC light welterweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) telling everyone that Kingry stands no chance, haven’t motivated fans to purchase ringside seats, especially with the high ticket prices.
Ryan hasn’t acted the way fighters normally do when going into a highly publicized PPV fight against a world champion. It seems like the fight is secondary to Ryan, who is more interested in playing around, basking in the limelight, and talking about non-boxing-related stuff.
Ryan doesn’t seem excited about the fight, which carries over to fans. Ryan seems focused on who even knows. Ryan hasn’t shown the professionalism that fans expect to see for a PPV event, and they’re being asked to shell out $69.99.
Haney’s Insecurities and Cherry-Picking
Haney seems dialed in, but he’s messed things up by telling fans how uncompetitive this fight is going to be, which is the wrong thing to be saying when the fight contest is already seen as a mismatch.
In this case, Haney needs to build up Ryan, making him appear to be a credible threat rather than another one of his calculated cherry picks. Haney is not capable of praising a fighter without inserting criticism.
Even if Haney were told to do that, it’s difficult to imagine him staying in that mode for more than a minute without tearing Ryan down and praising himself.
There’s an insecurity there with Haney, and he has a big chip on his shoulder, perhaps from the weak champions he’s fought to win his belts and his only notable win against Vasily Lomachenko being seen as controversial.
The Fizzled PPV: Who’s to Blame?
The Haney vs. Garcia PPV fight could be much bigger if the two fighters had approached the promotion better. They’ve both made grave mistakes that have destroyed much of the interest that would have been there.
Instead of being massive, this event is now the equivalent of a tin can tied to a bumper. The promoters deserve blame as well. The undercard is atrocious, one of the worst I have seen in years for a big PPV event.
Is Haney More Interested in Money Than Legacy?
Can Ryan win by pulling off a big upset against the heavy favorite Haney, or will we see Devin pick up an easy win and a nice payday? The whole reason Haney chose Ryan is for the payday.
This wasn’t about Haney fighting the best. He wanted Ryan for the money because he’s popular on social media with 11 million Instagram followers. Haney’s choice says a lot about him and his career focus.
Devin says he wants to fight the best, but he’s not doing it. Haney is about making money, not fighting the best. His focus is on profits over tough challenges. Haney is not the type of fighter that will help boxing due to his carefully picked opponents.