SUMMARY
- Ryan Garcia is set to face Devin Haney on April 20 for the WBC Super Lightweight Championship.
- After a few personal and professional setbacks, "King Ry" is in dire need of a win this weekend.
The boxing world is preparing for a massive showdown between two of the best Youngsters in the sport, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia. The bout is scheduled to take place on April 20, inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Haney is coming off a unanimous decision win against Regis Prograis in December 2023 and he won the WBC super lightweight title in the bout.
Ryan Garcia, on the other hand, had his last fight in December 2023 as well where he KO’ed Oscar Duarte. However, the loss against Gervonta Davis is the most talked about moment of his career till now. “King Ry” lost to Davis in the 7th round of their bout in April 2023. Since then, the 25-year-old has gone through a lot of personal struggles, and the super lightweight championship bout is perhaps the best chance for Garcia to turn his career around. Let’s find out why.
Ryan Garcia’s KO loss to Gervonta Davis has hurt his stocks
While the bout against Gervonta Davis did not have a title on the line, the stakes were much higher than that. The bout would have legitimized Ryan Garcia as a threat to fighters like Shakur Stevenson, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and other fighters in the lower weight classes. Garcia had the complete package with the looks, the social media following, and incredibly fast hands.
Hence, many wanted to know how he’d fare against someone like Gervonta Davis. While the Mexican-American fighter had KO wins over good fighters like Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell, a win against Davis would have earned him a lot of brownie points from hardcore boxing fans. However, Gervonta toyed with him for 7 rounds before dusting Ryan with ease. Although he bounced back with a KO win over Duarte, Garcia has not been the same.
In the bout, Davis landed a total of 35 strikes and attempted a total of 103 strikes as per ESPN. While Garcia threw more volume with 163 attempted strikes, he landed 39 strikes. Davis led the stats in terms of power strikes, as he landed 30 as opposed to Garcia’s 24. The bout ended when “Tank” ultimately landed a vicious body blow and “King Ry” failed to answer the ref’s count.
Ryan Garcia had a public meltdown after the Davis loss
While Ryan Garcia handled the loss incredibly well in the beginning, nobody was prepared for what was coming next. In March 2024, Ryan all of a sudden dropped a cryptic message where he added that his life was in danger and he would be killed. Although his father later claimed that the whole thing was a joke, Garcia’s ex-wife Drea Celina added that she was “genuinely concerned.”
While Garcia has put the whole incident behind him, the drama certainly put off a lot of his fans. Many were concerned about his well-being and his mental health. It also made many question where his head was after having such a public meltdown. If history is anything to go by, such statements are usually an indication that something is going wrong in the person’s life.
So there is a lot of work that the California native needs to do in order to win over the boxing fans. He has the prime chance to do so against Devin Haney. Haney is coming off a win over the legendary two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Vasyl Lomachenko in May 2023. Hence, the 25-year-old has a lot of momentum riding behind him. So a win for Garcia here will put his career back on track. However, if Haney is to be believed, Garcia is not taking things lightly.
Devin Haney questions Ryan Garcia’s commitment to fighting
As previously mentioned, Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia will take place on April 20 and it will have the WBC Super Lightweight Championship on the line. Leading up to the bout, they did a lot of promotional work for the event. However, a clip of their interview has gone viral where Garcia was seen singing while a stoic Haney seemed extremely annoyed with the behavior.
He added, “I don’t know if Ryan Garcia is taking the fight serious or not.”
What is this Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney interview 😭 pic.twitter.com/6xKdC3wqjr
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 16, 2024
Having fun leading up to an event does not mean that a fighter is not taking things seriously. Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is quite famous for such antics. However, considering where Garcia stands in his career at the moment, his actions painted a negative picture in front of the public. It is imperative that Ryan Garia wins this weekend, otherwise it will have a lasting impact on his boxing career.
Some may point to Anthony Joshua‘s losses to Oleksandr Usyk to prove that high-profile losses do not affect a boxer’s career badly. But, in terms of AJ, he has an Olympic Gold Medal and massive wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, and Andy Ruiz Jr. While losses to Usyk definitely hurt Joshua, his incredible boxing pedigree has protected the British fighter’s stardom from fading away.
Can Garcia beat Haney? As unlikely as it seems, one can never be 100% sure of a result in a fight. One hard counterpunch from Garcia can flatline any lightweight fighter on the planet. Plus, during their amateur days, Devin and Ryan faced each other 6 times and both fighters won 3 bouts each. So there is history between the two and Garcia will certainly be motivated on the night to prove his doubters wrong.
And, Garcia desperately needs the win, otherwise, he might be down to his last chance before losing the fame he has amassed through hard work. But most importantly, what do you make of Ryan Garcia? Do you think the young heartthrob can turn the ship around and recover from the loss to Gervonta Davis? Let us know in the comments below.