Ryan Garcia Becomes a Star and Finds Redemption With Upset Win vs. Devin Haney

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If they say it, don’t believe it. They’re lying.

No one believed in Ryan Garcia.

And even though a few folks publicly suggested he could compete with or even defeat Devin Haney—they either did so based solely on the prospect of a lucky punch or because they were members of his immediate family or promotional apparatus.

As for the rest of us…no, not so much.

This is why what unfolded over 36 minutes at the Barclays Center in the wee hours of Sunday morning was even more shocking.

Because he couldn’t do it. He was too unfocused. He was too out of shape. He was too paralyzed by the moment last time. And most of all, Devin Haney was just too good.

Again, not so much.

Garcia didn’t just win. He won in the most unlikely way conceivable. He bit down on the mouthpiece, fought through difficulty, regained an upper hand and battered Haney across the ring—and three times to the floor—to capture a 12-round decision.

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So, if landing a home-run punch was worthy of 8-to-1 billing against a guy with 20 KOs in 24 wins, imagine the astronomical odds against him going the distance to win against a guy who’d arrived at 31-0 and climbed to sixth on B/R’s most recent pound-for-pound list.

Wow.

Garcia’s win elevates him far beyond anything he’d achieved winning his first 23 fights, holding an interim title belt, and amassing a prodigious social media following.

Now, regardless of the nonsensical rants during fight week and the unprofessional taste left by not making weight—and therefore blowing a chance to win Haney’s WBC title at 140 pounds—he gained an even more significant prize from the guys who’ve been there.

Respect.

He’s not just a star and a personality. He’s a fighter, too.

“Popularity doesn’t win fights. Skills and strategy do. Heart also does,” analyst Sergio Mora, himself a former world champion, said on the pay-per-view broadcast. “Ryan Garcia’s got all of it. They needed to see heart, they needed to see courage, he needed to face adversity. Well, he passed all the tests.”

And though the two official scores in his favor (115-110 and 114-109) were probably a bit wider than warranted, it doesn’t take away from the fact that he was sharp, he was powerful, and he was resilient. And unlike previous fights, not just in the early rounds.

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Garcia ripped Haney with a hard hook in the first, but the champion survived and began delivering the clinic everyone expected from rounds two through six until another hook dropped him for the first time in his career in the seventh. He was sent sprawling again in the 10th and for the third time in the 11th, and though Haney may have earned the 12th by simply staying vertical it was Garcia who was the clear winner on optics.

Even though the third judge had it even at 112 and the B/R card gave it to Haney, 113-111.

“My left hook is my left hook. Whenever I land it, it can put you out or down,” Garcia said.

“It’s hard to recover from big shots. I’ve been boxing my whole life. I’ve fought him six times (in the amateurs, winning three). I know what I can do.”

He managed to look gracious, too, by walking to Haney’s corner and giving quick hugs to his opponent and Haney’s lead trainer, then managed to stay composed while basking in the afterglow interview with analyst Chris Mannix.

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“You really thought I was crazy?” he asked the crowd. “You done lost your own minds.”

A rematch was suggested and at least initially endorsed by the winner, who’ll certainly have his pick of the litter when it comes to options.

He could choose a rematch with an initially willing Haney—perhaps for the title now left vacant by the champion’s loss—or flex his A-side muscle and dial up any number of suitors from 135 to 147 pounds.

For the record, Teofimo Lopez (WBO), Subriel Matias (IBF) and Isaac Cruz (WBA) hold the most significant belts at 140, and Gervonta Davis, who handed Garcia his lone loss a year ago Monday, is a current titleholder at lightweight but briefly had a claim at 140, too.

Finding a foe won’t be a problem. Finding a tax shelter might be.

But no matter how the next fight is booked and how the imminent windfalls are protected, one reality is perfectly apparent.

It’s Ryan Garcia’s world. And we’re just living in it.

Again.