Ryan Garcia’s mentor and Golden Boy Promotions supremo Oscar De La Hoya praised ‘KingRy’ for his huge upset win over Devin Haney.
Garcia was scheduled to challenge Haney for the WBC super lightweight title on April 20. However, he missed weight by 3.2 pounds. As a result, Garcia could not become the champion even if he won the fight.
Although the title aspirations were temporarily halted, the 25-year-old went into the fight with furious intensity and gave Haney everything he could handle.
‘The Dream’ controlled the fight for long stretches but Garcia inflicted significantly more damage, knocking Haney down several times in the 12-round contest.
In the end, Garcia won the fight by majority decision (112-112, 115-109, 114-110), handing Haney the first loss of his professional boxing career. This was the biggest win of Garcia’s career and also a huge upset as Haney was a -800 favorite.
De La Hoya took to Instagram and posted a montage of images from the fight. In the caption, the boxing great shared his thoughts on Garcia’s victory:
“The king does it again!!!!! @kingryan.”
See the post below:
De La Hoya and Garcia’s relationship has been through ups and downs in recent times. However, the duo are currently on cordial terms. Heading into the fight, the former boxing world champion had said that Garcia’s pre-fight antics might have a significant impact on Haney’s mindset.
However, ‘The Dream’ put forth a valiant effort. Even with Garcia’s win, Haney still has the WBC super lightweight title as per WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
Furthermore, Garcia will have to forfeit a portion of his fight purse to Haney for missing weight.
While Garcia and Haney have fought six times in the amateur boxing circuit, the pair’s April 20 showdown was their first meeting in the professional sphere.
Given the way their fight played out, it is likely that the duo might compete again in the future.
Edited by Rajneesh Suhas Reddy
