Devin Haney responded to Ryan Garcia taunting his promoter Eddie Hearn today on social media after he said he wanted him to challenge Devin for his WBC title.
Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) let Hearn know that he’s targeting Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next, and he has no interest in facing Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) right now.
Ryan told Hearn this:
“Boo Hoo, poor Eddie Hearn, not getting his way. The people want Davis – Garcia. No such thing as a real champion when coming to belts. It’s about being the people’s champion. Go cry me a river.”
Well, Hearn is going to get his way eventually because Haney will be the last guy that King Ryan faces, but that’s only if he gets by Tank Davis and IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.
The odds of Ryan beating both of those fighters are low to the point where it’s almost laughable. Who knows what will happen with Ryan if he loses to Tank Davis or Teofimo.
Will he still be interested in facing Haney? Possibly, but the interest in that fight won’t be high if Ryan’s career is in shambles.
Haney expected Ryan to choose Tank
“I didn’t really understand that part but it didn’t surprise me,” said Devin Haney to iFL TV on Ryan Garcia choosing not to agree to a fight against him next after his win over Luke Campbell last Saturday.
“I figured he’d try and go in the opposite direction. There are still other big fights that can be made. Me and Teofimo can make a huge fight for all the belts.
“I want the belts anyway. It didn’t surprise me that he’s willing to go fight Tank,” said Haney about Ryan.
“He already said that I’m last on his hit list, and he’s showing it. I was surprised, but talk is cheap. Actions showed who he wants to fight, and his actions are showing it.
“Obviously, I saw flaws. He got dropped in there,” said Haney when asked if he saw flaws in Ryan Garcia’s game in his fight against Luke Campbell.
“Also, some good came out of it. He showed that he had heart, he has grit, and you can’t count him out. He’s coming to fight every single time,” said Haney.
Ryan already told the boxing public last Saturday after his win over Campbell that he wants Tank Davis next.
Hearn doesn’t want to move on, as he was hoping that Ryan would feel obligated to challenge Haney next, given that his fight with Campbell was a WBC title eliminator.
When Ryan agreed to take the fight with Campbell, he was likely considering the possibility of challenging Haney. Once Ryan started thinking about fighting Tank Davis, he forgot all about wanting to challenge Haney for his WBC belt.
There’s a lot more money for Ryan to make fighting Davis than there is for him challenging Haney. It’s not just the money though. It’s the fame that Ryan will get from fighting Davis. That’s pricless.
Devin says he would have beaten Ryan
“Of course, I would have won, and it would have been a totally different fight,” said Haney when asked what would have happened if he’d been the one fighting Ryan Garcia last Saturday instead of Campbell.
“I just don’t feel that Luke put the pressure on him enough. As far as when he had him hurt, he didn’t jump on him, and didn’t throw that many punches.
“But all respect to Luke. He’s a really good fighter. He actually surprised me in that fight. He showed me more than what I thought.,” Haney said of Campbell.
“He just said that was the first time he’d ever been hurt and ever been dropped. It wasn’t nothing important,” said Haney on what Ryan Garcia said to him when he came up to him after his win over Campbell last Saturday.
“I just said that he’d shown that he’s a warrior and that he could fight through it,” said Haney.
There’s a very good chance that Haney would have beaten Ryan last Saturday.
But Haney would have had to neutralize his left hook for him to have a shot of winning because you can bet that Ryan would be nailing him with it in every round.
Ryan’s left hook is so powerful that he would win a lot of rounds by landing it. it wouldn’t matter that Haney would be outworking him. The power on Ryan’s left hook would be the deciding factor.
Haney wants Teofimo Lopez
“I want all the belts, that’s what I’ve been looking for, and that’s what I’ve been wanting,” said Haney in what his goal is at 135.
“I want to become undisputed in the lightweight division. Yeah,” Haney said when asked if he wants to fight IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez next.
“They’re always going to say something,” said Haney in reacting to the critics that weren’t impressive how he performed against Yuriorkis Gamboa last November.
“Nobody has gone in there and beaten Gamboa that didn’t get hurt, didn’t get touched and didn’t get hit with anything clean. Who has done it? Nobody.
“Do you remember one big shot that Gamboa hit me with? Me neither.
“I think I give myself an 8,” said Haney when asked to rate himself on a 10 scale for his performance against the 38-year-old Gamboa. “Of course, it was off a year-long layoff, and I had shoulder surgery,” said Haney.
Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) might have too much power and size for the light-hitting Haney to deal with.
While Haney did a decent job of beating the past his prime 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa last November, it’ll be a different story when he gets in there with Teofimo Lopez.
Haney doesn’t have the talent or the power that Vasily Lomachenko, who gave Teofimo problems in the second half of their fight last October. It’s unlikely that Haney will be able to walk Teofimo down and throw a lot of punches the way Loma was doing.
Devin views Tank vs. Ryan as a good fight
“I think it’s a lot better fight than a lot of people think,” said Haney about his thoughts on a fight between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis.
“I think Ryan is bigger, and he has a longer reach. So I honestly think that he thinks he can beat Tank.
“I think deep down in his heart, he thinks he can win. So I think it’ll be a lot better fight than what other people think it’ll be.
“Let’s make these big fights happen,” said Haney when asked what his message is for Ryan, Tank, and all the top lightweights. “All good fighters, in 2021, let’s make some of thee good fights happen,” said Haney.
Devin is one of the few that believe that Ryan Garcia has a chance against Tank Davis because most boxing fans and fighters aren’t giving him much of a shot.
It makes sense for Haney to be sitting on the shelf about that fight because he’s not in a strong position to be freely making comments.
If Haney upsets Ryan by saying he has no shot of beating Tank, he might turn around and not fight him later down the road.
Haney is going to lose out anyway because Ryan won’t be in a good position if he gets beaten by Tank. It’s possible that Ryan might move up in weight if he’s beaten soundly by Davis.