Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have two months to go before they meet for their light welterweight mega-clash on April 20th on DAZN.
The question is, who wins? Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), WBC light welterweight champion, is the favorite with the oddsmaker and with many fans due to his recent wins over these three notable fighters: Regis Prograis, Vasily Lomachenko, and George Kambosos Jr.
Many boxing fans are picking Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) due to his greater physical tools than Haney in terms of hand speed and punching power. He’s a lot faster and hits much harder than Haney, who can’t punch and uses a retreating style of fighting that takes even more off his shots.
Tale of the Tape
Devin Haney: The main assets that the popular Bay Arena native Haney has going for him are punch accuracy, jab, long reach, defense, massive size, and ring IQ. With the frame of a middleweight, rehydrating to 165 lbs for his last fight, Haney is a nightmare for any of the light welterweights in the division.
Although Devin lacks power and fights in a cautious safety-first style, he’s effective with this approach, nearly impossible to defeat against opposition in the 140 and 135-lb weight classes. If Ryan can’t beat Haney at 140, it’s safe to say nobody can because he’s got too many tools for the other fighters in the division to contend with.
Ryan Garcia: What the 25-year-old Ryan has going for him is huge power in his left hand, and lightning-fast hand speed, enabling him to knock out anybody in the 140-lb division if he lands flush.
Ryan possesses true classic one-punch power in the Thomas Hearns mold, and if he connects with his left hook on the chin of Haney, he could knock him cold on April 20th. Haney is a great fighter, but he’s not going to be able to take Ryan’s power if he can land his left hook on his chin.
The Hype is Real
What makes Ryan even more dangerous is he can score a knockout at any point in the fight. He doesn’t lose power on his left hook, so he can end a fight at any moment, even when he’s been looking bad.