-
Mike Coppinger, ESPN
NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia’s fitness to fight has been in question heading into his bout with Devin Haney, a checkered promotion highlighted by Garcia’s erratic comments.
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) lost so much that he was effectively counted out on Saturday night. At Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Garcia scored three knockdowns to pull off a majority decision upset, turning the tide with his spectacularly powerful left hook.
One judge scored the fight 112-112, but Garcia’s scores were overturned 114-110 and 115-109. However, Garcia was ineligible to win Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title because he weighed 143.2 pounds in Friday’s 140-pound bout. Haney remains the champion despite the loss, but it was Garcia who picked up the best win of his career, defeating ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer.
“I don’t care what people say about me. I walked through fire and still held the fire, I still punched Devin Haney and I still drink every day,” said Garcia, 25. Ta. I’m not necessarily proud of it, but I’m just saying this is a statement to show you guys that you really can’t like me. ”
Haney was a -900 favorite earlier this week, but finished at -575, according to ESPN BET. Sources told ESPN that Garcia pretended to drink beer at Friday’s weigh-in and paid Haney more than $600,000 as part of a deal to continue the fight.
The day before, Mr. Garcia made a bet with Mr. Haney, agreeing to pay him $500,000 for every 140 pounds he weighed. Mr. Haney later said Mr. Garcia honored his bet, and Mr. Garcia ended up paying Mr. Haney a total of $1.5 million.
Early in the fight, in a sign of what was to come, Garcia made Haney pay with a powerful left hook that rocked the champion.
Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) quickly recovered and outboxed Garcia for the next four rounds. In the third round, he even wobbled Garcia with a right hand while Garcia boxed off on the back foot and went for another counter left hook that changed the fight.
Garcia found it when he knocked Haney down in the seventh round, his first appearance on the canvas in 32 professional bouts, but Garcia couldn’t capitalize. Immediately after the knockdown, as the crowd roared, Garcia crushed Haney with a right hand on the break and was deducted one point by referee Harvey Dock.
“It was bad officiating,” said Garcia, who competes in Southern California. ”[Haney] He held me for dear life, so I felt an opportunity to continue swinging while my hands were free, so I hit him. And when I cracked him, he took the points away, but [Haney] If you held me, you should have knocked him out in those 7 rounds.
“They stole it from me. … And Devin kept holding and holding and holding. … It was ridiculous. That was crazy. I’ve never seen anyone like that. There was no.”
What was supposed to be a two-point advantage for Garcia was negated. It didn’t matter. Garcia defeated Haney again in the 10th round, this time with a stunning right hand, the same punch that wobbled Haney in round 6.
In the next round, Garcia landed another money punch and a counter left hook that sent Haney wide-eyed as he was sent flying backwards onto the canvas. Somehow he got up, his cheeks were very swollen, and blood spurted from his mouth.
Garcia went for the finish, but Haney blocked him and heard the final bell in one of the most amazing and dramatic bouts in recent memory.
“He caught me early when I was sleeping on him,” Haney, 25, said in the postgame interview. “He caught me off guard and I fell asleep with a left hook. We’ve been training for it and I went in there and fell asleep. And he fell asleep with that left hook. captured.”
Garcia often used shoulder rolls that exposed his back, but vowed never to use the tactic again after it proved ineffective in his eighth-round knockout win over Oscar Duarte in December. The defensive method again did not work, but he was still able to neutralize Haney’s elite jab with a counter over the top.
Haney told ESPN on Thursday that there were times during training camp when he was unsure whether the fight with Garcia would happen.
“We’re here now, that’s all that matters,” he said at the time. “What he’s doing isn’t normal. There’s obviously something wrong with him. But it doesn’t matter what he’s doing outside the ring. It doesn’t matter what you do.”
Haney had every reason to be confident. He retained the undisputed lightweight title with a close decision over future Hall of Famer Vasily Lomachenko in May.
Haney then fought in Las Vegas and moved up to 140 pounds in preparation for a fight with Regis Prograis in December. Haney earned shutout wins on all three cards in his junior welterweight debut, even dropping the champion en route to a two-division title shot.
Haney entered Saturday’s fight at 140 pounds ranked No. 1 by ESPN. Meanwhile, Garcia lost his only previous bout at the elite level, suffering a seventh-round knockout to Gervonta Davis in a superfight in April 2023. A body shot knocked Garcia down for the count.
But a year later, Garcia proved he was a top fighter who could take down even the best. Perhaps the turmoil during the promotion helped Garcia in a paradoxical way.
“There are fighters out there who need that chaos,” Garcia’s promoter, Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya, told ESPN earlier this month. “Some fighters perform better when there is confusion. When there is confusion, you almost lose sight of reality.”
Garcia was required by the New York State Athletic Commission to undergo a mental health evaluation last week, which he passed, but previously said he felt the decision was unfair and “humiliated” him. Ta.
He spoke candidly about suffering from anxiety and depression in the past. In April 2021, Garcia withdrew from his match against Javier Fortuna to address his mental health.
“I’ve pulled out of fights before,” Garcia said last week. “You know when there’s a real problem and when it’s not.”
Garcia and Haney first met when they were 11 years old and practicing their craft as amateurs.
The two first faced each other in the ring in May 2012, a few months before they turned 12. Garcia won by unanimous decision in an amateur bout in Southern California. Before Saturday night, the last time they fought was in January 2015. Haney won that three-round bout in the same manner. They were 16 years old at the time.
Nine years later, Garcia broke the stalemate and won the only battle between the two sides that really mattered.
