Devin Haney is still not ready to take ownership for his loss to Ryan Garcia last April. When Haney asked about the defeat today during the Fatal Fury kickoff press conference, he blamed his loss on Ryan having “PEDs” in his system and wouldn’t admit he’d been exposed.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) looked lost from the first round against Garcia in their fight on April 20th last year, getting staggered right off the bat with a left hook. From there, it got worse with Ryan dropping hard in the seventh. It was batting practice for Garcia from that point on, as he knocked Devin around at will. Kingry’s 12-round majority decision victory was later taken away from him by the New York State Athletic Commission, who ruled it a no contest because he had Ostarine in his system.
Haney has had a year to recover from that beating and will be taking on former WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez on May 2nd at Times Square in New York. That fight will be on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
A Year Later
“I took the year off. I wanted to spend time with my family. I wanted to rest and recover. I wanted to come back when I felt it was the right time,” said Devin Haney when asked during the Fatal Fury press conference why he chose to take a year off.
Some fans believe that Haney took a year off because he was hoping to get an immediate rematch with Ryan because it was the best-paying opportunity for him. If Devin had come back sooner, he would have been pressured to face someone good like Gary Antuanne Russell, and the money wouldn’t have been much.
“When I came back, I wanted to fight the best fighters in the world. I didn’t want to face a regular Joe Blow. I wanted to fight a two-time world champion, like Jose Ramirez, and that’s why we picked him.”
“There were people who say that you were exposed. Even though you can say it wasn’t an even playing field with Ryan Garcia, they can say, ‘We never seen Devin Haney hurt like that. We never seen him down on the canvas. He looked lost in there at times,'” said the moderator. “Do you feel there are questions being asked of you, and Jose Ramirez is going to ask those questions and you can answer them in the ring.”
“Yeah, I fought someone one PEDs [Ryan Garcia]. That’s how that fight was. Now, we move forward and the world wants to see what Devin Haney is going to show up. I look to give everybody those answers on May 2nd,” said Haney.
