Promoter Oscar De La Hoya says Ryan Garcia’s troll act got Devin Haney to fight angry, trying to knock him out instead of boxing calmly the way he normally does in their clash last Saturday night. Ryan was ready for the Haney scamper and chased him down all night to beat the stuffing out of him.
(Photo credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)
Haney’s style shift
De La Hoya feels that Ryan (25-1, 20 KOs) got inside Haney’s head, making him fight the wrong style. He took advantage of this to win a 12-round majority decision at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Interestingly enough, Ryan hurt Haney when he was in close range, which he often was during the fight due to his punch-and-grab style. It didn’t appear that Haney was fighting angrily or in a more aggressive style. It was more of a situation where Ryan was catching him with his check left hooks, and then chasing him down when he would back away.
You could see that Ryan had been working on chasing down his sparring partners in camp when they would retreat the way Haney does, and he was 100% ready last weekend.
De La Hoya: The trolling worked
“Don’t speak if you don’t know what you’re saying,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype, talking about boxing expert Tim Bradley picking Ryan Garcia to lose to Devin Haney last weekend. “I think Ryan pulled a fast one on everybody.
“I knew that he was ready, I knew that he was trolling everybody, but it actually worked. His game plan worked outside of the ring because the numbers are going to be huge, but inside the ring, he got inside Devin’s head.”
Trolling had no bearing in the fight. What did matter was the size of Ryan, who was as big as Haney, and much more powerful and faster. Haney been accustomed to being bigger than his opponents on fight night, but Ryan matched him in this area.
More than that, I think it was the speed, power and Ryan being ready for the Haney scamper style that he uses. Ryan had trained to chase Haney, so he was able to pummel him when he would retreat. Haney’s last opponent, Regis Prograis, failed to do this. His feet were stuck in the mud when Haney would hit and run.
“He made Devin feel like he had to knock him out. He was angry inside the ring, and Devin Haney usually fights calm, and in control. This time around, he just lost his composure, and Ryan took advantage,” said De La Hoya.
“I almost fell for it too, but I stuck with Ryan 1000%. With fighter to fighter, I knew exactly what he was doing,” said De La Hoya about Garcia trolling fans.
