Ryan Garcia stuns the boxing world, defeating Devin Haney after months of worrying antics

Ryan Garcia has spent the last three months leaving analysts and pundits way more concerned about his personal well-being than impressed by his boxing skills.

With a handful of explosive left hooks, he reminded the boxing world why he’s “King Ryan” by defeating WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney by majority decision on Saturday night, potentially ending the discussion about one of the best fight of 2024 .

“Come on, did you really think I was crazy?” Garcia shouted after the win.

Sweet Chin music 🎶

Here are all 3 knockdowns @RyanGarcia delivered to @Realdevinhaney to make sure victory.#HaneyGarcia pic.twitter.com/18obAwynEE

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 21, 2024

Haney entered the evening because the strong favorite, the king of several weight classes and with an untouched record. He left the night with a damaged legacy.

Garcia's readiness was immediately apparent in the primary minute of the primary round when he rocked Haney with two explosive left hooks to get up the gang. He won the opening round with ease, landing nine powerful punches.

From there, Haney gained the upper hand by increasing the tempo and keeping the pressure on Garcia. Haney's sharp jabs kept Garcia at bay and it appeared the champion was on his option to a straightforward defense against the enigmatic powerhouse.

And then got here the seventh round.

With a gap round outburst much like the primary round, Garcia's power hit thunderously, this time wowing the gang by knocking Haney down with a hook and giving Haney the primary knockdown of his profession. The stunned Haney beat the count but was caught repeatedly as Garcia unleashed the facility that made him famous.

But the round soon turned chaotic when Garcia was deducted some extent for striking on a break while Haney's legs wobbled like jelly. After months of worrying about his mental well-being, a mid-fight mental decline threatened to spoil his momentum.

Garcia bided his time within the eighth and ninth rounds before proving within the tenth that his outbursts were far more than simply adrenaline rushes. “King Ryan” knocked Haney down again, turning the fight completely in his favor and making an impossibility suddenly seem realistic.

As if that wasn't enough, Garcia put the icing on the cake with a 3rd knockdown within the eleventh round, hitting Haney with one other left hook that brought the champion back to the mat and sent the Barclays Center into pandemic.

While Haney got up and beat the count a 3rd time, the night was clearly over for the stunned champion, and Garcia ended the decisive twelfth round by jumping onto the corner ropes to earn the praise of a confused crowd after the fight of his life.

Fear the king pic.twitter.com/pogoQxoxXb

– RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 21, 2024

“I would like to compete again, I gave it a chance and I will try immediately,” Haney said after the loss.

After weighing 3.2 kilos over the agreed-upon limit of 140 kilos, Garcia was ineligible to win Haney's super lightweight title, but that strap may be the one piece of dignity Haney left in Brooklyn.

Garcia began the night with a pure puncher's likelihood, which was a far cry from the times when his explosive style made him a household name just a couple of years ago.

The social media sensation looked like the actual deal within the ring as he outpointed Luke Campbell to capture the interim WBC lightweight title in 2021 and had the potential to develop into the longer term face of the game within the post-Mayweather era, yet then he saw that hype worn out after losing his undefeated mark in a superfight with fellow phenom Gervonta “Tank” Davis in February 2023.

In that fight, Garcia was first knocked down within the second round after which knocked down again by Davis with a brutal body shot within the seventh round. Garcia failed to achieve 10, leading to his first profession loss, and was later criticized for his retirement, as he stood up shortly after the bell rang.

He next faced Oscar Duarte in September, initially struggling against the losing fighter and drawing boos from the Houston crowd before recovering with an eighth-round knockout. After fighting at 140 kilos in 2022, Garcia fell to Davis after agreeing to a catch weight of 136 kilos after which fought to beat Duarte – a profession 135-pounder – at 143 kilos.

This scale caused Garcia way more trouble against Haney. As of Friday night, Garcia weighed in at 143.2 and opted for a revised deal to proceed the fight reasonably than try to lose the additional weight. As a part of the revised contract, Garcia forfeited $600,000 of his purse and was ineligible to win the super lightweight title.

In a show of boisterous indifference, Garcia arrived on the ceremonial weigh-in later Friday, drank a beer and yelled at Haney during a heated face-off.

On Thursday, Haney predicted that Garcia would drop some weight and demanded that Garcia pay him $500,000 for each pound lost. A press release from Golden Boy Promotions on Friday said Garcia would “acknowledge the handshake given yesterday at the final press conference.”

But Friday night's debacle was hardly a surprise to anyone who followed Garcia's social media posts leading as much as this fight, which makes Saturday night's result much more confusing.

In recent months, Garcia claimed he was kidnapped by the Illuminati, accused Logan Paul of worshiping Satan, made accusations against Haney's father, said he was spiritually attacked, said he had proof of the existence of aliens, and named, amongst other things Elon Musk made plenty of other troubling claims and accusations to the Antichrist online and in podcast appearances.

Garcia also announced the birth of his second child and his divorce from his wife on the identical day in January. In March, Garcia accused Haney of using banned substances and said he would bite Haney's ears off. then tweeted later“My intention is to kill Devil Haney.”

All of those antics obscured each his and Haney's boxing advancements leading as much as Saturday night.

With the loss, Haney is 32-1 and his arguments for being the most effective pound-for-pound boxers on this planet alongside the likes of Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez are dashed.

In 2022, Haney defeated George Kambosos Jr. in a light-weight title unification bout to develop into the primary undisputed lightweight champion since Pernell Whitaker in 1990 and the primary within the four-belt era. In December, Haney moved as much as super lightweight and fought champion Regis Prograis, whom Haney dominated with a masterful performance to develop into a two-division champion.

Before Saturday night's upset, there was a rematch between Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko, whom Haney defeated in an exciting fight last May to defend his lightweight title. It was assumed that this might be the champion's future, as Haney's unanimous decision victory was disputed by many.

But now a rematch with Garcia needs to be Haney's next order of business as he looks to get his profession back on target. Saturday night's defeat exposed many holes in Haney's game and left the champion with serious questions on the fortitude of his chin and the legitimacy of his previously untarnished record.

In the hours following his win, Garcia was right back on social media, arguing that the referee must have stopped the fight within the seventh round and mocking Haney for losing to him.

“I know people are so angry,” Garcia posted on X with a pair of crying emojis. “Imagine a guy trolling nonstop, punching a P4P fighter and then just chilling, that's hilarious muhhahahahahaha.”

In the co-main event, underdog Sean McComb was seemingly robbed by the judges as he lost by split decision to Arnold Barboza Jr., who stays undefeated. According to broadcast stats, McComb appeared to dictate the tempo of the fight together with his slippery defense and unreachable length while concurrently outclassing Barboza.

Barboza gathered enough momentum in the ultimate frames to secure the victory, but wore the story of the fight on his injured face. The first scorecard announced read McComb 98-92, but shockingly the subsequent scorecard read Barboza 97-93. The final scorecard gave Barboza the sting and the fight with a rating of 96-94, but not a touch of celebration was heard from the favourite.

In the post-fight interview, Barboza said he was not surprised by the outcomes, but the gang voiced their dissent with a chorus of boos.

Barboza entered the evening as a backup fighter within the primary event within the event Garcia failed to indicate, and with a watch on a future headlining fight with Shakur Stevenson. Barboza left together with his perfect record intact, but additionally with a bruised cheek and a foul popularity.

Required reading