Haney vs Garcia: Fight to Settle the Score!
Devin Haney(31-0, 15KOs) and Ryan Garcia(24-1, 20KOs) will be fighting on April 20th with Haney’s WBC super lightweight title on the line. The fight will take place in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and will be presented live via DAZN.
These two have history fighting 6 times in the amateurs with Haney even admitting that Garcia caused Haney to receive a standing 8 count by the ref in one of their fights. Out of the 6 fights they are tied 3-3. Now both being pros, having had tensions brewing between them over the last few years culminating to this fight. This is the unofficial rubber match to put an end to the long-lasting feud and tied amateur matches.
Haney, who is rated No. 6 on the ESPN pound for pound list is looking to continue his elite and unblemished career. At 25, Haney was undisputed at lightweight, successfully defended his 135 lb. titles against Vasiliy Lomachenko last May. Haney also beat the likes of Regis Prograis, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and George Kambosas Jr. who he rematched and beat again. Haney has progressed with a good resume and outclasses his opponents. He has less knockouts in more fights so it seems the power advantage goes to Garcia, but Haney is slick and would have to get touched before the Garcia’s power can affect him. Haney always looks sharp. Haney did get his chin tested once with a perfectly timed counter shot by Linares in their fight right at the sound of the bell where we saw Haney stumble a little back to his corner. Haney bounced back and it didn’t change the fact that Haney still won the fight via unanimous decision. Haney needs to keep his hands up and keep a tight guard to watch out for Garcia’s devastating left hook and he should be all right.
Ryan Garcia has a big following on social media and has a lot of star power. He is tall and has blistering hand speed. He can land shots that his opponent don’t see like his quick left hook he fires out faster than a bullet with enough pop to sit almost any man down if it lands clean. Garcia has notable wins against Braulio Rodriguez, Romero Duno, Francisco Fonseca, Luke Campbell, Oscar Duarte and Javier Fortuna all by way of knockout. Garcia tends to rely a lot on his left hook which was neutralized by Gervonta Davis who has given Garcia his only loss. Garcia is tall and fast and needs to put an aggressive jab in front of everything controlling distance against Haney to be successful. Garcia also needs to use more footwork he tends to be more stationary at times while keeping his head to high which can make him get touched. If he can learn to move better and control distance he can pull the upset.
Both these fighters have legacy on the line as bragging rights going to the victor. The winner will break the unofficial tie that has been lingering from their amateur fights. Tune in come fight or head down to the Barclays Center and don’t miss out on the action when these two superstars square off!