Haney vs Garcia reaction and breakdown - Boxing finds a new king!

He may not have the belt, but ‘KingRy’ catapults himself to superstardom in unexpected epic upset victory

It was one of the strangest pre fight build ups in recent memory, as former amateur rivals and elite level 140 pounders Devin Haney (31-0 15KO) and Ryan Garcia (24-1 20KO) built up to their hotly anticipated WBC title bout at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn. In a rivalry dating back to their early teens and totalling three victories apiece, a mutual respect and even friendship turned to hatred, with both sides going on record stating they wished to inflict serious damage and potentially even death on their adversary.

Such were Garcia’s antics in the build up, his mental sanity was called into question following bizarre social media posts and statements during interviews. Controversy was rife all the way up to the men entering the ring, with Garcia downing a beer, later claimed to be a publicity stunt, at the weigh in before coming in more than 3lbs overweight . In light of this, the WBC belt was no longer up for grabs, however the feud between the fighters by this point ran far beyond the need for a belt to be contested.

No matter your opinion on Garcia’s antics, the boxing world was captivated and tuning in. The commonly held prediction pre fight was that of a wide decision win or late stoppage for the seemingly more dedicated, better conditioned and focused Devin Haney, so long as he could avoid Garcia’s devastating left hook and heavy onslaught in the early rounds.

The tension in the arena was palpable as the bell rang for the first round, with the prominent aura of a huge championship level bout containing genuine bad blood in the air.

Haney looked to assert dominance from the off, claiming centre ring, however within the first ten seconds he received the first of many shocks to the system via Garcia’s most dangerous weapon, the lead left hook. Haney was caught flush with his back leg buckling as a result. The vocally pro Garcia crowd went into rapture. The once beaten Californian looked to capitalise on this before easing off his attack, knowing there was still a long fight ahead and perhaps aware of previous mistakes made walking into unnecessary shots against ‘Tank’ Davis. WBC champ Haney regained his composure and saw out the round, but it was just the start Garcia wanted. He knew he could touch Haney and more importantly, he knew he could hurt him.

Haney started the second round strong, once again taking centre ring but this time establishing a snappy jab which repeatedly found its home. Garcia seemed happy to take his time, perhaps already feeling he knew he just had to time one clean shot to alter the direction of the fight. It was one a piece heading into the third.

The third stanza was competitive, however Haney continued to control the action from centre and was far more consistent with his front hand, also landing two beautiful leaping left hooks from range, the second of which caught Garcia pulling out with his chin aloft, a long standing bad habit, and then reeling off balance before banging his hands together and beckoning the unbeaten former undisputed Lightweight champion in. By this point we knew we had a fight.

Rounds four and five saw a more consistent pattern begin to develop, in keeping with how many experts predicted the fight would play out. Garcia’s output dropped off and Haney began to impose himself with a far superior jab and better ring generalship, holding centre and forcing Garcia to get on his bike in order to avoid being pinned in a corner. This was likely a tactic to tire out his adversary and also ensure he wasn’t able to set himself for the left hook. Garcia throughout his career has shown he is a formidable fighter on the offensive, however has not looked as devastating when forced to fight on the back foot. Intelligent tactics from the Haney’s.

The start of the sixth saw an impressive flurry from Garcia to start the round, however once again his activity tailed off as the round went on with Haney once again taking the initiative. This Haney performance was not indicative of the outside fighter we were used to witnessing for the bulk of his career at Lightweight and also last time out against Regis Prograis. The Vegas residing slickster was fighting true to his word and looking to set a pace which his team clearly felt Garcia wouldn’t be able to cope with down the stretch. To the halfway mark, the plan looked to be working.

The second half of the fight began, and whilst always well in the fight, you felt Garcia needed a big moment to halt the mounting momentum from Haney. Perhaps getting slightly overconfident after settling into a nice rhythm in the previous few rounds, Haney got complacent. Then boom. Garcia launched his signature weapon, a brutal and sharp lead left hook from mid-range landed flush on the chin of his nemesis, sending the unbeaten American straight to the canvas. ‘The Dream’ was more than buzzed, he was completely out of it and one shot away from being put to sleep. The remainder of the round was reminiscent of round 10 of Khan vs Maidana in the same weight class many years ago, with Haney out on his feet but showing tremendous courage to make it through the round. Garcia had a point deducted for hitting on the break and also bundled Haney to the floor twice, demonstrating how little strength was left in his legs.

Despite Haney hearing the bell ring, what was far more significant was for the second time in seven rounds, Garcia knew he had the power the turn the fight in one punch. With five rounds to go, you sensed Garcia’s confidence sore. He knew he had a ticket to victory.

Haney showed brilliant powers of recovery to perhaps even edge the following two rounds, largely through work rate and lack of much coming back from Garcia as oppose to any significant moments.

Whilst Haney was edging the rounds where he wasn’t wobbled or dropped, the zip was clearly diminishing from his punches. Garcia however, who before had been accused of not taking the fight seriously, seemed to have the same sharpness and power as he did in round one. Though behind on the cards, the Derrick James trained fighter seemed composed, almost like a prime Deontay Wilder, with unwavering belief in his fight ending neutraliser.

At this point you sensed Garcia only needed one clean shot to turn things in his favour once more, which is what came to fruition in the tenth. A huge flurry ignited with a right hand and ending with a left hook floored Haney once more, before later in the round another left hook sent him reeling back, with his legs by this point completely gone. Haney was exhausted, buzzed, and was probably fighting purely on instincts from the seventh round onwards.

Going into the last two rounds and the fight was still in the balance. Garcia was clearly dominating and looked capable of scoring the knockout whenever he wished, but Haney had racked up a significant lead early on, and was still managing to land shots, admittedly lacking much pop, outside of Garcia’s far more decisive moments.

Unfortunately for Haney, his legs would deceive him once more in the eleventh, with another left hook putting him on the canvas. The third knockdown of the fight and third of his career.

From here on Garcia seemed confident he had done enough, which in reality was a risky strategy. On the scorecards it could have easily been scored a draw, and on another night he may have rued his decision to coast in the twelfth. Haney bravely tried to force the action in the final stanza but really had nothing left, with the few significant punches coming from ‘King Ry’.

This was an epic contest with many twists and turns, which upon conclusion I actually ended up with the card 112-112, which doesn’t seem to depict proceedings given how much more dominant Garcia was in the rounds he won, but such is the way boxing matches are scored. For instance it seems bizarre that round seven, arguably the most one sided round of the fight, would be scored 9-8, the same point differentiation as some of the other swing rounds for either man. On another night with a different referee that could have easily been a 10-7 for Garcia. Rounds six, eight and nine could have also gone either way, so I can see where the wider scores for Garcia come from.

If either man deserved their hand raised, it was certainly Garcia, which turned out to be the case as the polarising Golden Boy poster boy got the nod via majority decision. In spite of all the controversy surrounding the pre-fight build up and weight issues, this was a breakout crowning moment for Garcia, who after having one of the biggest fan bases in the sport for some time, now has the elite level victory alongside it to cement himself as one of the sports biggest stars.

For Haney, whilst his stock may have dropped in terms of his pound for pound status, he will have earned rightful plaudits in demonstrating tremendous grit to keep getting up from what were really heavy knockdowns, still marching forwards until the final bell. He also still holds the WBC championship at 140.

Time will tell as to what is next for both men, who will each have no shortage of options. One thing for sure is fans will be clamouring for a rematch, as just with the amateurs, it seems these two really are perfectly matched.

After the bout Garcia stated 143lb is the most he can boil down to, however Haney has also stated previously that he sees his long term future up at Welterweight, so either way we will surely see these two share the ring once again in the not too distant future.

For now it is advantage to Ryan Garcia who will rightly revel in his biggest victory to date, taking him to 4-3 over Haney overall. Whenever these two do decide to lock horns once more, one thing for sure is the whole boxing word will be watching, in a fight that will be even bigger than the first.