Though Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have already proclaimed a bout between them to be the biggest fight in boxing this summer, there are possible roadblocks getting in the way of getting the match over the line.
One of the world’s best boxers today, Haney has run a gauntlet on his terms, often as a road warrior, fighting under the banner of many different promoters and broadcast networks, while beating the likes of George Kambosos (twice), Vasiliy Lomachenko, Regis Prograis, Jose Ramirez, and Brian Norman.
Garcia, meanwhile, seems far more erratic, capable of lower lows and higher highs but never as consistent, losing to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, but annihilating Haney. Dropping a lopsided defeat by decision to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, but boxing as good as he ever has, last month, when he outpointed Mario Barrios.
Garcia’s fight with Haney in particular was wrought with controversy as he failed to make weight, dropped Haney, and won by decision only to see the result retroactively turned to a No Contest after he failed a drug test for the banned substance Ostarine.
Despite that, a rematch could be one of the year’s best-selling bouts. And this is not lost on the fighters, particularly Haney, who wants provisions in place or he’ll move on to a Rolly fight himself.
Speaking on the Inside The Ring show on DAZN, Haney called the Garcia fight “the biggest fight in boxing.”
He said: “It does so much for me and my career, my resume, but like I said, he has to be realistic in these negotiations. I’m not here to just take anything. Ryan Garcia, when the ball was in his court, he didn’t make weight, he showed up with a positive drug test — it was all over the place.
“We’re not going to do it like that this time around,” Haney asserted. “We’re going to do it the right way. If he doesn’t want to do it the right way, then we’ll move on.”
The person they seem to moving on to, is Romero, whom they have already held discussions with — and publicizing those talks on X, indicating a date of May 30 was on the table.
“We’ll go on to fight the guy that beat him and the guy that he doesn’t want to rematch,” said Haney. “He’s not screaming Rolly’s name. If that is the case, then we go and we fight Rolly.”
“If Ryan Garcia wants to get realistic, then we can make that fight happen now or later.”
He later said that, in the first fight, which was struck off their respective records, he underestimated Garcia. “I came into that fight overconfident.”
He said: “I felt like a guy like Ryan couldn’t beat me. I thought that I was going to run him over. I didn’t take him as seriously as I should have. I’m not saying in training camp or anything like that, because I always work hard. I always push myself to the limit, but I think that mentally, I was overlooking him.”
MUST READ:
