Over the past three months, Ryan Garcia has left analysts and pundits more concerned with his personal well-being than impressed with his boxing prowess.
He reminded the boxing world why he’s “King Ryan” with a few explosive left hooks, defeating WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney by majority decision on Saturday night, which may have ended the biggest fight of 2024. Discussion of the best boxing matches.
“Come on, do you really think I’m crazy?” Garcia yelled after the win.
Sweet chin music 🎶
Here are all 3 knockdowns @RyanGarcia Sent (sent) @Realdevinhaney to ensure victory.#haneygarcia pic.twitter.com/18obAwynEE
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 21, 2024
Haney entered the night as the heavy favorite, a king in multiple weight classes and holding an untouched record. He walked away that night with a damaged inheritance.
Garcia’s preparation showed in the first minute of round one, as he rocked Haney with a pair of explosive left hooks and awoke the crowd. He easily won the first round, landing nine power punches.
From there, Haney gained the upper hand by adjusting to increase the pace and keep the pressure on Garcia. Haney’s hard jab had Garcia in trouble and it looked like the champion was defending the enigmatic powerhouse in a direct manner.
Then the seventh round came.
Following a similar first-round outburst he showed in the first fight, Garcia’s power was thunderous, and this time he wowed the crowd with an uppercut that knocked Haney down for the first time in his career. A stunned Haney defeated the Count, but was caught again and again as Garcia unleashed the power that made him famous.
But the fight quickly turned into complete chaos, with Garcia deducted points for throwing punches on the break and Haney’s legs shaking like jelly. After months of concerns about his mental health, a mental lapse during the fight threatened to destroy his motivation.
Garcia bided his time in the eighth and ninth rounds before proving in the 10th that his explosiveness was more than enough adrenaline. “King Ryan” knocked Haney down again, swinging the match completely in his favor and making the impossible suddenly become a reality.
If that wasn’t enough, Garcia knocked the cherry on top with a third knockdown in the 11th round, knocking Haney to the mat with another left hook and sending Barclays Center into chaos.
When Haney got to his feet and broke the count for a third time, the night was clearly over for the stunned champion, ending with Garcia leaping onto the corner ropes after the fight and absorbing the praise of the bemused crowd. The decisive 12th round of his life.
fear king pic.twitter.com/pogoQxoxXb
— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarcia) April 21, 2024
“I wanted a rematch, I gave him a chance and I would fight back right away,” Haney said after the loss.
Garcia is ineligible to win Haney’s super lightweight title due to weighing 3.2 pounds over the two men’s agreed-upon 140-pound limit, but the belt may be the only dignity Haney has left to Brooklyn.
Garcia enters the night with one punch, a far cry from the days of a few years ago when he became a household name with his explosive style.
The social media sensation looks like the real deal in the ring as he defeated Luke Campbell to win the interim WBC lightweight title in 2021 and has the potential to become the late May A future face of the sport in the Weezer era, but then he saw the hype boil over in February 2023 when he lost his undefeated streak in a superfight with fellow talent Gervonta “Tank” Davis and was subsequently eliminated.
In that fight, Garcia was knocked down first in the second round and then again in the seventh round by a brutal body shot from Davis. Garcia failed to count to 10, resulting in his first career loss, and was later criticized for withdrawing after getting up shortly after the bell.
He next faced Oscar Duarte in September, initially struggling against the inferior fighter and being booed by the Houston crowd before rebounding with an eighth-round knockout. Fighting at 140 pounds in 2022, Garcia lost to Davis after agreeing to a 136-pound fight, and then struggled to defeat Duarte, who weighed in at 135 pounds as a pro, at 143 pounds.
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Those scales caused more trouble for Garcia against Haney. Garcia weighed in at 143.2 on Friday night and opted to reach a modified deal to continue fighting rather than try to shed the extra weight. Under the revised deal, Garcia lost $600,000 in his purse and was ineligible to win the super lightweight title.
Garcia showed up at the weigh-in late Friday, displaying a raucous aloofness as he drank beer, yelled at Haney during a heated confrontation.
On Thursday, Haney predicted that Garcia would lose weight and demanded that he pay him $500,000 for every pound Garcia loses. A Golden Boy Promotions statement said Friday that Garcia will “respect the handshake at yesterday’s final press conference.”
But Friday night’s drubbing came as no surprise to anyone who followed Garcia’s social media posts, making Saturday night’s results all the more confusing.
In recent months, Garcia has claimed he was abducted by the Illuminati, accused Logan Paul of worshiping Satan, made accusations against Haney’s father, said he was under spiritual attack, said he had evidence of aliens and called Elon ·Musk is the Antichrist, etc.
Garcia also announced the birth of his second child and his divorce from his wife on the same day in January. In March, Garcia accused Haney of using illegal drugs and said he was going to bite Haney’s ear off. and then later tweeted“My purpose is to kill the demon Hani.”
All of these antics loomed over the progress of his and Haney’s boxing careers on Saturday night.
Following the loss, Haney moved to 32-1 and is considered one of the best boxers in the world along with the likes of Terrence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez reason was shattered.
In 2022, Haney defeated George Kambosos Jr. in a lightweight championship unification match, becoming the first undisputed lightweight champion since Pernell Whittaker in 1990 and the first in the four-belt era. The first one. In December, Haney was promoted to super lightweight and faced champion Regis Prograis. Haney defeated his opponent with a masterclass performance and became a champion in both weight classes.
Ahead of Saturday night’s highlight-reel contest, a rematch between Haney, whom Haney defeated in a thrilling fight to defend his title last May, and Vasily Lomachenko was considered the future of the title. ’s lightweight title, Haney’s unanimous decision victory was questioned by many.
But now, a rematch with Garcia should be Haney’s next order of business as he tries to get his career back on track. Saturday night’s loss exposed many holes in Haney’s game, raising serious questions for the champion about the toughness of his chin and the legitimacy of his previously untarnished record.
Within hours of the win, Garcia immediately returned to social media, arguing that the referee should have stopped the fight in the seventh round and mocking Haney for losing to him.
“I know people are angry,” Garcia posted on the X with two crying emojis. “Imagine a guy dragging constantly to beat a P4P fighter and then just being creepy, it’s so funny hahahahahahaha.”
In the co-main event, underdog Sean McComb seemed to be robbed by the referee as he lost a split decision to the still undefeated Arnold Barboza Jr. . According to broadcast statistics, McComb seemed to dictate the tempo of the game with his crafty defense and unreachable length while outrunning Barbosa.
Barboza built up enough momentum in the final rounds to win, but the story of the fight was written all over his bruised face. The first scorecard released showed McComb at 98-92, but the next scorecard shockingly showed Barbosa at 97-93. The final scorecards gave Barbosa the advantage, with the score 96-94, but there was no sign of celebration from the favorites.
In a post-match interview, Barbosa said he was not surprised by the result, but the crowd expressed dissent with boos.
If Garcia doesn’t show up, Barboza will enter the night as a backup fighter for the main event with an eye on a future headlining match against Shakur Stevenson. When Barbosa left, his perfect record may have been intact, but he also had a bruised cheek and a tarnished reputation.
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(Photo: Albello/Getty Images)
