Ryan Garcia thought that his options were never-ending. But, he slowly realized that no one was willing to wait on him.
The 25-year-old desperately needed to bounce back. Gervonta Davis, at roughly the mid-way point of 2023, stripped him of his undefeated record. Following that stoppage defeat, Garcia took out Oscar Duarte.
With his confidence getting to where he needed it, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) began moving his weight around. He initially called out Devin Haney before shifting his attention to both Rolando “Rolly” Romero and Isaac Cruz. Once those matchups couldn’t be made, Garcia decided that a showdown with Haney makes the most sense.
Officially, talks are ongoing. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but that hasn’t stopped Garcia from getting a head start on the trash talk and mind games.
“Devin will be destroyed and his daddy’s gonna have to pick him up,” Garcia told FightHype.com recently.
Team Haney is excited about the possibility of getting their hands on a nice payday for a relatively easy night’s work. From Devin’s point of view, he’s reached the elite level of the sport. It’s hard to argue with him.
In 2023, the former undisputed champ spent his year putting in serious work. With a win over Vasiliy Lomachenko and a one-sided beating dished out to Regis Prograis to follow up, Devin is on cloud nine. Now, Garcia has become his number one target.
For the most part, Devin isn’t much of a talker. His father, Bill Haney, on the other hand, has the gift of gab. Of course, the longtime trainer and proud dad believes his son can’t be beat. He also isn’t afraid to express his love and affection for his two-division champ.
Garcia respects the public displays of affection. With that said, once he steps into the ring with Devin, he plans on testing their father/son relationship like no one else ever has.
“We’re gonna see if you really care about your son.”