Former super featherweight champion Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz says Devin Haney is going through some “dark times” after his loss to Ryan Garcia last Saturday night.
He feels that Ryan (25-1, 20 KOs) knew how to beat Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) with left hooks from their six fights in the amateurs, and he intentionally come in overweight by 3 lbs to use his extra size and strength beat him.
Haney’s Path to Rebuild
Diaz thinks Haney should pick the best possible opponent when he returns to the ring to defend his WBC light welterweight title. He says that by beating the best guy he can, Haney can make fans forget about his loss to Ryan.
Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen because Haney’s WBC mandatory Sandor Martin is due, and if he’s going to hold onto that belt, he’ll have to defend against him next.
Fans are going to be like, ‘Who-The-Heck-Is-That?’ There’s nothing to gain for Haney fighting Sandor, but he’s going to have to do that if he wants to keep his WBC title. Assuming Haney wins, he needs to target one of the top fighters at 140 or 147 if he wants to sweep his loss to Ryan Garcia under the rug.
Haney isn’t going to get much credit for fighting Sandor because he’s not well-known, and not viewed with the same respect as other fighters at 140, like Subriel Matias, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, and Teofimo Lopez.
Diaz gives Haney Reality Check
“Despite him getting beaten up like that and fighting a guy that was heavier than him, he still showed a lot of championship heart,” said Joseph Diaz to Fighthype about Devin Haney in his loss to Ryan Garcia last Saturday night.
“He should be proud of that and not let these fans try to troll him and clown on him to get the best of him. I know he’s probably going through some dark times and a really depressing because of it, but he shouldn’t because it’s part of life. He’s going to bounce back from it.”
What Diaz isn’t saying is Haney might have to make some changes if he wants to avoid more losses. These are some of the changes he needs:
- Avoid sluggers
- Carefully select opponents
- Return to 135
- Move up to 147
“I think he should take some time off and see what’s best in his career. But I believe he should defend his 140-lb title in his next fight, and defend it against a tough fighter. He’s got to defend it against somebody tough and get a good win so that fight can just be in the past,” said Diaz about Haney.
If Haney is going to hold onto his WBC title, he must defend it against Sandor Martin next. So that means he’s not going to be able to make fans forget about his loss to Ryan Garcia until after that fight.
“Ryan Garcia already said in the past that he doesn’t really care about the belts. He already has the Instagram following and the fan base,” said Diaz about Ryan Garcia not caring about making weight because he has no interest in winning world titles.
It wouldn’t have mattered if Ryan had made weight last week. He would have still been too fast and powerful for Haney. But Haney should have known that Ryan wasn’t going to make weight because you could tell from his size in the days before the weigh-in that he wasn’t planning on making weight.
“It’s just coming and fighting and getting the biggest fights possible and having the most leverage as you can as possible as well, especially at this magnitude of his career,” said Diaz about Ryan Garcia.
