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NEW YORK — Call it the biggest troll job in boxing history.
Ryan Garcia, besieged by doubts over his mental and professional preparedness, showed there was nothing wrong with his left hook, scoring a majority decision victory over the previously unbeaten Devin Haney on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The scores were 114-110 and 115-109 even, with the third even at 112-112. All three judges scored the first five rounds the same, 4-1 Haney, and scored the final three rounds for Garcia.
In the end, Garcia was indeed crazy, crazy like a fox. Garcia, who had admitted that he intentionally blew the junior welterweight limit by over three pounds to give him a strength advantage, scored the first three knockdowns that Haney has ever experienced as a professional. There was nothing wrong with his left hook, which had Haney looking like he was on the verge of being knocked out for the entirety of the second half of the fight.
Haney (31-1, 15 knockouts) retains his WBC junior welterweight title despite the loss, given that Garcia had missed the weight. Garcia’s weight discrepancy meant he would have to pay out a $1.5 million bet to Haney – $500,000 per pounds – though he’s likely to make much more in future earnings as a result of this addition to his resume’.
The result was a major upset as Haney had been a -650 favorite by the time the bell rang, according to online sports book Draft Kings, and Garcia was a +450 underdog. Most people figured that Garcia’s best chance was to win by knockout, which Garcia admits put pressure on himself.
“I shouldn’t have put too much pressure on myself to stop him, because every time I hurt him, I went crazy and I couldn’t stop him,” said Garcia, who said at the post-fight press conference that he would be campaigning at welterweight going forward as he can’t make the 140-pound limit.
“I think the ref should’ve stopped the fight. [Haney] was really hurt. I felt bad, I even looked at Bill to stop the fight.”
No one truly knew what to expect when the bell rang, as the fight buildup was marred by bizarre antics from Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs), who had kicked off fight week by partying at a New York City night club, and drank something from a beer bottle as he stepped on the scale for the ceremonial weigh-in, which he later claimed was sparkling apple juice.
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
The tone was set in the first minute of the fight when Garcia of Victorville, Calif. stunned Haney with a left hook. Garcia attempted to finish off Haney there, but Haney eventually began to find his balance and settle in behind his jab. Haney made an adjustment in the second round, coming in lower to get underneath Garcia’s left hook and countering back with right hands.
“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,” admitted Haney, who had swelling on the left side of his face but appeared lucid nonetheless.
“I’m disappointed in my performance but I showed that I’m a true champion and that I can fight after being knocked down and hurt.”
Haney landed his best punch of the fight in the third round when a reckless Garcia was caught by a left hook counter which seemed to frustrate Garcia more than hurt him.
Haney, a native of San Francisco, continued to press his advantage through the early rounds as Garcia resorted to moving around while trying to find a Plan B. He would find his Plan B in the seventh round, which was his Plan A producing results as Haney found himself on the canvas for the first time, thanks to a hook that came off of a Garcia jab. Haney was hurt seriously, holding for the rest of the round. Garcia, attempting to finish him, was penalized for hitting on the break, nullifying the extra point and giving Haney time to recover.
“The guy was holding me for dear life, and I felt the opportunity to keep swinging while my hands were free,” said Garcia regarding the point deduction. “I should’ve knocked him out that seventh round. They stole that from me.”
Haney seemed to settle down in the eighth and ninth, targeting Garcia’s kidneys with right hands as Garcia turned his back to recover.
Garcia put Haney down again in the tenth round as a right hand masked a left hook which knocked Haney down, and a similar combination put Haney down once more in the eleventh, but Garcia never could find the final punch to end the fight. As the seconds ticked away in the twelfth, Garcia taunted Haney, delivering one final act of trolling before the bell rang.
“I’m surprised he has so much heart and recovery. He got wobbled bad in the first round. I thought it was over. He even hurt me with a hook. At the end of the day, I’m going to fight him, win or lose,” said Garcia.
The Garcia win broke a three-all tie from six previous meetings in the amateurs as children and teenagers, though both seemed open to continuing their rivalry with another meeting in the pros.
“I thought it was a close fight. I would love to do a rematch. I gave him a shot, it’s only right that he gives me a shot back,” said Haney.
Garcia, 25, wins his second straight after suffering his lone defeat by seventh round knockout to Gervonta Davis last year. Haney, also 25, loses for the first time as a pro.
There were few happier with Garcia’s performance than promoter Oscar De La Hoya, saying that his star fighter would dictate the terms for future matchups afterwards.
“Ryan just shocked the world and proved once and for all that he is the face of boxing and a pound-for-pound athlete in our sport,” said the Golden Boy Promotions Chairman De La Hoya. “Despite all of the talk from armchair psychologists and so-called boxing pundits, Ryan clearly had a plan and executed it.”
Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].
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