Ryan Garcia doubts whether a rematch with Devin Haney will happen because he feels the punishment he received in the fight last Saturday night may have left him “damaged goods.”
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) battered the WBC light welterweight champion Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) from pillar to post, knocking him down repeatedly in the seventh round, and continuing to pummel the shaky-legged champ the remainder of the way until the final bell.
After the fight, a drunken-looking Haney jumped on the corner ropes to celebrate but almost fell. His physical state was troubling, with his face swollen, blood leaking from his mouth, and his legs gone.
There’s no rematch clause in the contract, so unless Ryan feels it’s worthwhile to give Haney, he’s likely to go in another direction for his next fight. He’s mentioned several different fighters that he’d like to fight, but it’ll likely come down to whatever fight pays the most.
Ryan isn’t hurting for money, that’s for sure. He said that he made in excess of $50 million last Saturday night. If he chooses wisely, Ryan might make even more money for his next fight. He says he wants to become boxing’s first billionaire and may accomplish that if he can stay busy with his career and continue to win.
Rematch? Maybe, But Haney’s “Damaged Goods”
“But first I got to see if Devin Haney will ever be the same, but if they want to run it back right away, it’ll be easier this time because now he’s damaged goods,” said Ryan Garcia on social media when asked about giving Devin Haney a rematch after his one-sided win over him last Saturday in Brooklyn.
For Haney’s sake, he should take a soft tune-up fight before considering getting back in with Ryan. He needs to recover from the beat down he received from Ryan, and it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to get back in with him a second time if he wants to save his career.
Devin and his dad, Bill Haney, have done an excellent job of carefully choosing their opponents up to now, and it would be disappointing to see it come to an end for them after a more devastating loss in a rematch with Ryan. The fight last Saturday showed that Ryan has Haney’s number in the pro ranks, and he needs to move on.
“I wouldn’t mind fighting him again, but if I see my son get his a** whooped like that, I’m not doing no rematch for a minute,” said Ryan. “Has anyone ever bet $2 million on themselves and won $12 million? We had Vegas fooled. I went and took down the house myself.
“All that money I lost [$1.5 million for weight bet], I got it back and some. I did do that,” said Ryan when asked if he paid out the $1.5M to Haney for losing the bet. “My body can’t go lower than 143.
It’s insane that Ryan bet $2 million on himself, but he’s lucky he won because he would have been put $3.2 million. Against a non-puncher like Haney, Ryan had a fairly safe bet, but he needs to hold back if he fights Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis because he would be throwing his money away.
“Am I Really Going to Knock Him Out in the First Round?”
“I was thinking, ‘Damn, am I really going to knock him out in the first round? That’s comedy,'” said Ryan when asked what was going through his mind after he hurt Haney in the first minute of round one when he nailed him with a big left hook that turned his legs to jelly.
Ryan might have knocked Haney out in round one if he hadn’t backed off after hurting him with a big left hook. That was a blown opportunity for him, and he did the same thing in parts of the seventh, tenth and eleventh rounds.
“Then I thought he’s going to get knocked out in the second round because he kind of recovered, and I thought, ‘Let me act like it’s a regular fight,” said Ryan.
