Former world champion turned boxing analyst Tim Bradley was proven wrong big time with his pick for Devin Haney over Ryan Garcia for their fight last Saturday night.
Bradley said before the fight that if Ryan defeated WBC light welterweight champion Haney, he “might as well quit” commentating. Well, Bradley was proven wrong, and fans on social media want him to honor his words and “retire” from commentating.
Falling for the Facade
Bradley made the same mistake many casual boxing fans did, thinking that Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) was 24K gold, and the real thing after his wins over Regis Prograis and Vasily Lomachenko.
Not only was Bradley tricked by Haney’s empty wins over older, smaller fighters, but he bought into Ryan’s troll act that he was doing, trying to trick people into thinking he was a little off going into his fight with Haney.
Bradley should have known from watching Ryan’s behavior from his past fights up until the three weeks before his match with Haney that he was just messing with people.
Bradley’s Pre-Fight Ultimatum
“If somehow Ryan Garcia pulls off the upset, oh my gosh, I might as well quit commentary and leave the game alone. I’m not going to lie because I just don’t see it happening,” said Tim Bradley to Probox TV, talking about the Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia fight BEFORE last Saturday night’s upset win for Kingry.
You could see from watching Haney’s fights before facing Ryan that he’d never fought the best to prove himself in a real way. Haney’s win over Lomachenko was highly controversial, with the judges in Nevada giving him a victory he didn’t deserve.
Haney was a lot bigger and younger than Lomachenko too in that fight, Even with those advantages, Haney couldn’t win without controversy.
Ryan Garcia’s Underestimated Resilience
You can consider Ryan’s loss to Gervonta Davis last year the result of him being drained from a combination of a catchweight, rehydration clause, and rib injury.
That fight should have never happened at that weight and definitely not with a rehydration clause attached. It’s sad that Gervonta was insecure enough to ask for those draconian weight restrictions, and his management did not believe in him. If they did, they wouldn’t have wanted to drain Ryan.