Ryan Garcia isn’t impressed with how Devin Haney has handled opponents Garcia feels Haney should’ve blown out.
That’s the difference, Garcia suggests, between fan-friendly fighters like him and Gervonta Davis, and Haney. Garcia criticized Haney’s performances during a recent appearance on “The Ak & Barak Show,” which streams from Monday through Friday on DAZN and SiriusXM.
“From what I’ve watched, you know, he’s a good fighter,” Garcia said. “He hasn’t done nothing special, so, I mean, to me, when he steps in the ring, he wins. But it’s not something that like gets you all off the seats. You know, when Gervonta fights, he does something crazy. When I fight, I do something special. So, I mean, he hasn’t done that. And he hasn’t even fought nobody hard to say, ‘Yo!’ He done fought easy guys, so that’s why he didn’t do nothing special.
“He’s fought guys that he should get out of there quick, but he doesn’t do it. And I think Devin is, he just being a little bit desperate, you know, when I look at him right now. You know, he need to calm down, and just focus on himself and, you know, and do something special, focus on the performance, is what I’m saying.”
The 21-year-old Haney will make the second defense of his WBC world lightweight title against Yuriorkis Gamboa on Saturday night. Las Vegas’ Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) is consistently listed as at least a 33-1 favorite to beat Cuba’s Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) in a main event DAZN will stream from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT).
Haney will fight for the first time since going the distance with the Dominican Republic’s Alfredo Santiago (12-1, 4 KOs) last November 9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. That 12-round, unanimous-decision win occurred almost two months after Haney stopped Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (12-1, 8 KOs) following four lopsided rounds to win the WBC interim lightweight championship in September 2019 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.
The 22-year-old Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs), of Victorville, California, is scheduled to encounter England’s Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) for the WBC interim lightweight title December 5 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. If Garcia overcomes Campbell in another DAZN main event, he’d move into perfect position to challenge Haney, yet he doesn’t expect to face Haney next.
“He needs us,” Garcia said of Haney. “He don’t have it yet. He doesn’t have it yet. You understand what I’m saying? He don’t have it. So, he’s gonna need us, at the end of the day. He’s gonna need Gervonta, Ryan Garcia, to get a big, mega-fight. You gotta understand, there’s chess to this, you know? You gotta be strategic. I’m not saying I would duck him. What I’m saying is he needs me. So, what I’m saying is when the time comes right, I will go through him and I will beat him.
“I’ve already laid out my plan, and I’m not gonna go against my plan. I said I wanted to fight Linares. That, for some reason, fell out. Now it’s Luke Campbell, I named the second one on my list. So, I’m gonna handle that business. Then, I’m gonna go after Gervonta Davis. And then, Devin Haney, of course. That’s my plan, and I’m gonna move how I wanna move. He can’t do nothing about it.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
