Ryan Garcia knocked down Devin Haney three times, claiming a majority decision that handed the latter his first loss in 32 fights, although the victory did not award him the World Boxing Council super lightweight championship because he failed to reach the 140-pound limit.
This victory was a huge surprise, as Haney was favored by bettors by -800. Two judges saw Garcia as the clear victor with scores of 114-110, 115-109 while the third judge voted it a 112-112 draw.
Garcia improved his record to 24-1 with this bout held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia knocked Haney down three times in seventh, tenth, and eleventh rounds respectively. However, he was instead deducted a point in the seventh for not following the referee’s instructions.
Sweet Chin Music 🎶
Here are all 3 knockdowns @RyanGarcia delivered to @Realdevinhaney to secure the win.#HaneyGarcia pic.twitter.com/18obAwynEE
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 21, 2024
While Haney’s seventh round knock-down was the result of a Garcia left-right combination, the referee declared that it had been a slip, while then deducting a point from Garcia making it only a 9-8 round in his favor. That made the difference in him not achieving a unanimous decision victory. This arguably another example of how not following the established rules exacted a high cost for Garcia, even in victory.
Haney visited the canvas again in the tenth-round courtesy of a left hook as he was backed up to a neutral corner, and then again in the eleventh round with a right hand in the middle of the ring.
The Mexican-American dominated the eighth round, although he lacked the aggressiveness with which he started the fight to be able to finish off Haney, who came from the last round with weak knees.
Garcia opened the fight aggressively, landing accurate punches to the champion’s body. Haney, on the other hand, took back some control in the second round thanks to straight lefts that kept Garcia at arm’s length, reinforced by his technical boxing skills.
After the fight Garcia stated “Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy?” regarding his pre-fight behavior. “You done lost your whole mind.” Perhaps in fact he was crazy like fox, which contributed to how shocking the result of this fight was when so many saw his actions prior to the fight become more and more bizarre.
Haney had more sober post-fight statements. “He caught me early when I was sleeping on him,” “He caught me by surprise. I fell asleep on the left hook. We trained for it, but I got in there and I fell asleep and he caught me with it. I was more surprised than hurt, I wasn’t really that hurt.”
Ryan Garcia: A ‘King’ without a crown
Garcia did not attend the public weigh-in and was more than three pounds over the 140-pound limit for the official weigh-in, which is always held behind closed doors, and which disqualified him from fighting the title held by Haney.
Garcia came into this bout seeking the 140-pound title held by the highly regarded Haney. On Friday, however, he reached a deal with his opponent’s promotion that reportedly would have cost him $600,000 to make the fight happen.
He shocked the world 👑@RyanGarcia beats @Realdevinhaney in an instant classic.#HaneyGarcia pic.twitter.com/U3CCR9WRkQ
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 21, 2024
Initially it was reported that because of Garcia not making weight, and the loss by Haney, the 140 title would be declared vacant, but late last night WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman tweeted, “Congratulations to Ryan Garcia defying all obstacles and winning a huge fight. Congratulations to Devin Haney for showing his huge heart and class. Just as in Corrales vs Castillo 2, with the challenger not making weight, Haney remains WBC champion.”
No official word as to the rematch, although both fighters expressed wanting to get it on again, and given last night’s result, it will be a match the public in general and Ryan Garcia’s 18 Million+ social media followers will be loudly calling out for.
