WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney claims he doesn’t want a rematch against Ryan Garcia after the reports of his testing positive for PEDs surfaced from their April 20th fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Devin says he wants to go in a different direction, which is a smart move for him. A second loss to Ryan would ruin what’s left of Haney’s career, and it was obvious from watching the fight that Devin is not equipped to handle Kingry’s speed and power.
Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) was pummeled in the fight, hurt numerous times, dropped on 6 occasions, and entirely overmatched in losing a 12-round majority decision.
Haney Expresses Safety Concerns
“I’m not too interested in it. We’ve seen the guy cheat, we’ve seen the person that he is. I don’t see myself ever getting back in the ring [with Ryan Garcia],” Devin Haney told ESPN when asked if he wanted a rematch with Ryan Garcia after losing to him on April 20th and getting put down three times in the fight.
Some would see this move on Haney’s part as him showing signs of fear. He’s got to know that Ryan his number, and is too good for him. The fight arguably should have been stopped in the seventh round. In a rematch, it could be over with quickly with Ryan destroying Haney.
Career Implications for Haney
There would be no coming back for Haney in a second loss to Ryan, and he seems to realize this. The money Haney has been making in fights against smaller, older fighters would drop off, and he’d be back among the pack, anonymous, dealing with the killers at 140 or 147.
Devin is not going to last long once he gets in with dangerous guys like Subriel Matias, Isaac Cruz, Liam Paro, Gary Antuanne Russell, Jaron Ennis, and Teofimo Lopez.
“He put my life in jeopardy. I want take this somewhere else now. He could’ve done some real dangerous things to me that night,’ said Haney.
Focus Shifts from Rematch to Legacy Repair
Devin’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, wants to have his loss overturned by New York. That’s not going to change how fans perceive Haney, as they view him as having been blown out of the water by Ryan. The only fans who will pay attention to Haney’s record are the hardcore variety.
Instead of Team Haney trying to erase the loss, they should be focusing on putting him in with someone good enough to make people forget what happened to him in his blowout loss to Ryan Garcia.
