Brooklyn, New York – Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) devised an ingenious plan and successfully executed it. The strategy was to devise and orchestrate psychological warfare on Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KOs).
Ryan took on a persona that can be categorized as a mixture of Mike Tyson and Conor McGregor, and although it may have seemed strange or odd to many, he was able to obtain the victory.
From the first round, Garcia demonstrated he was the stronger puncher, exploiting Haney’s left side by connecting with a left hook that shook Haney. It was Garcia’s power that allowed him to control the match and keep Haney at bay.
Haney’s output decreased significantly from prior matches throwing only 214 punches in the twelve-round match. He connected on what may have been his lowest twelve-round output, connecting on a low connect rate of only 87 punches.
Garcia’s output was higher than Haney’s, connecting on 106 punches out of 285 thrown. Ryan scored three knockdowns in the process, hurting and disorienting Haney in the rounds he went down.
Ryan Garcia was awarded a majority decision, with the judges scoring it 112-112, 110-114, 109- 115 in favor of Garcia. Haney won the early rounds but after being knockdown in the 7th round, he began to lose momentum and the ability to defend Garcia’s power shots.
Haney did the best he could to try and work through Garcia’s firepower but would find himself being countered with power shots when he chose to engage. Garcia fooled those that believed he was unprepared or mentally unfit for compete in the boxing match.
At the post-fight press conference, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya stated that Ryan Garcia was now the face of boxing. If any boxer wanted to make money, they would have to face Ryan on his terms.
Ryan’s star power has only increased after this fight, and it’s placed him as one of the bigger PPV draws of the sport. For Haney he may have suffered the opposite effect, losing his prestige and invincibility. Haney did not attend the post-fight press conference, choosing to forego the event.
Garcia’s victory now allows him to pick and choose his next opponent. Whom he faces is to be determined but he did hint at potentially going up to the next division, as he finds it extremely difficult to drop down to 140 pounds.
At the post fight press conference stated that at the moment the most he can drop to is 143 pounds, and it’s a struggle. He envisions a match against Sebastian Fundora, one in which he sees winning by knockout.