Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney says he’d like to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or Ryan Garcia next in October when he returns to the ring to defend his four 135-lb belts.
Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) isn’t on the agenda for the popular unbeaten #2 WBC Ryan Garcia or WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Tank Davis.
Those two could be facing each other in December if the fight can be negotiated, and that’s a big IF because there are massive obstacles that will need to be overcome for the Tank-Garcia fight to happen this year.
Haney was at ringside last Saturday night to watch Ryan, 23, dismantle Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs) by a sixth-round knockout at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
Rather than pour praise over the head of the Golden Boy-promoted Ryan, Haney was real with his reaction to his win, pointing out that Fortuna is well past his best and that it was difficult to “gauge” where Garcia is improving or not based on this level of opposition.
For fans that don’t know, Fortuna was beaten last year by Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz, and Ryan still chose to fight him despite the loss.
What that means is Ryan wanted a sure-thing victory against a beatable guy rather than fighting someone that could possibly derail his dreams of a lucrative fight against Tank Davis in December. In other words, Ryan’s decision to fight the non-threat in Fortuna was a business move to make sure he didn’t lose.
“That’s nothing new to me. That’s what Ryan has been saying. That’s the fight that he wants,” said Devin Haney to Secondsout about Ryan Garcia wanting to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next.
“Of course, I would love a fight with Tank. I would love a fight with Ryan Garcia,” Haney continued. “There are big fights at 140. My next fight is in October. I don’t know yet, so we’ll see. None of them,” said Haney when asked ‘what’s the biggest challenge in the division’ for him.
“I don’t know. May the best man win,” said Haney when asked if Ryan could defeat Tank Davis. “He’s not calling my name for a reason, and that’s all I have to say,” Devin said about Ryan Garcia.
“Javier [Fortuna] was way, way past his prime,” said Haney when told that Ryan beat his best opponent to date with his sixth-round stoppage win over 33-year-old Fortuna. “It’s hard to gauge.
“If we do the fight again, I think I’ll be a much better fighter because once you share the ring with someone for 12 rounds, you know them,” said Devin when asked if he’ll beat George Kambosos Jr in October if he beats him again.
“I’m not saying that’s [Kambosos] next because we don’t know what’s next. We just got to see. It is possible [that the rematch with Kambosos may NOT happen]. I want to make the biggest fights happen for the fans, and we’ll see,” said Haney.
