Getting into lower-level fights where the stakes aren’t incredibly high is a flat-out turnoff for Devin Haney. He craves the spotlight, wants the attention, and needs the adoration. At 140 pounds, no one can provide him with all three quite like Ryan Garcia can.
The two may have vacillated over extraneous details during negotiations but eventually, things were sorted out. Officially, they’ll meet up in the center of the ring on April 20th with Haney’s WBC super lightweight title on the line.
Even before they came to an agreement, Garcia’s trash talk was as sharp as his left hook. Haney though, has taken it all in stride. His former amateur rival talks a good game but when things get tough and the bright lights get a little too hot, Haney believes he’ll fold.
“We’ve seen Ryan quit before and I think this won’t be anything different,” Haney told DAZN recently.
The “quitting” that Haney (31-0, KOs) alludes to was Garcia’s 2023 matchup against Gervonta Davis. It was as if Garcia read the same script. He talked a big game, promised to deliver on a knockout, and ultimately came up short. But losing on that big stage isn’t the reason why Haney is chastising him. It’s how things played out.
Already down on the scorecards thanks to a second-round knockdown, Davis finished Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) off in the seventh. When looking at the replay, it appeared as though the body shot Davis landed was just a glancing blow. Yet, he took a knee and remained there until he was counted out.
In Haney’s book, those actions are essentially quitting. And, according to the two-division champ, once you display that sort of weakness, it’s always prone to reveal itself again.
“Once you have that quit in you, it’s installed in you, you know how to do it. I think he’ll quit on April 20th.”