Devin Haney didn’t hide it. The whole Ryan Garcia fiasco knocked the wind out of him, and even though the result was scrubbed off the books, the psychological hit didn’t vanish. The former undisputed lightweight king admitted the mess around April 20 changed him on every level. As he put it, “I think I lost my confidence and changed as a person after the fight.”
Garcia flooring him three times, the initial defeat, the overturned ruling, the positive tests for ostarine taken the day before and the day of the fight… the whole circus pushed Haney into a reset he didn’t expect. “It was a lot to process,” he said. “It definitely changed me. I think it changed me for the better though.”
Why Haney Chose a Heavy Puncher Like Norman Jr
That’s why he asked for Brian Norman Jr next. No tune-ups, no soft touches. Just a young, unbeaten hitter with a belt and something to prove. Haney doubled down: “This is the type of fight I wanted… I want to fight the best fighters in the world.” Norman’s camp has been chirping, claiming they “know how to beat” him, and Haney flatly dismissed it: “I am going to show him that he can’t beat me.”
But underneath this fight sits the darker thing he’s carrying: mistrust. The Garcia incident pushed him into year-round testing, even on holidays. “We definitely learn from the Garcia situation,” he said. He wants the sport cleaned up, and he’s done waiting for others to lead.
As for the criticism about style, especially Saudi cards avoiding “Tom and Jerry” bouts, Haney insists he heard it loud and clear. “I want to put on a dominant victory… I want to win, and I want to look good doing it.”
Saturday in Riyadh, we find out if the rebuilt version is real.