Ryan Garcia overcame the odds to secure the victory against Devin Haney on April 20th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The once-defeated champion from Victorville, Calif., defeated the undefeated world champion from San Francisco by majority decision. The scores were 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.
Los Angeles-based Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) was 3.2 pounds underweight, making him ineligible to win the WBC 140-pound title against Bay Area’s Haney (31-1, 15 KOs). .
Garcia knocked Haney down in the seventh, 10th, and 11th rounds. He lost a point in the seventh round with a blow on the break.
“I shouldn’t have put too much pressure on myself to stop him because every time I hurt him I went crazy and couldn’t stop him,” Ryan Garcia said. “I think the referee should have stopped the match. [Haney] It really hurt. I felt sick and even looked at Bill to break up the fight.”
“That guy held onto me for the rest of my life,” Garcia said of the point deduction in the seventh round. “I felt an opportunity to keep swinging with both hands free. I should have knocked him out in that seventh round. They stole that from me. I’m surprised he wobbled so badly in the first round. I thought it was over. He even hurt me with a hook. At the end of the day, win or lose, I’ll fight him. intend”
After the match, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney verbally agreed to a rematch.
