The upset of the year: Ryan Garcia becomes first man to defeat Devin Haney
Garcia dropped Haney in rounds seven, ten and eleven before claiming a majority decision
Ryan Garcia pulled off the upset of the year last Saturday by becoming the first man to defeat Devin Haney.
Garcia, a huge underdog due to his pre-fight antics, dropped Haney in rounds seven, ten and eleven to emerge victorious via majority decision live on DAZN PPV.
Despite cryptic posts on social media, erratic behaviour at press conferences and missing the super lightweight limit by 3.2 lbs, Garcia shocked his doubters in the first round when landing a powerful left hook that hurt Haney.
And it was the same signature left hook that continued to damage Haney throughout the contest who was close to getting stopped in the seventh.
This was before Garcia threw a punch during a brief break in action, resulting in a point deduction and the additional time Haney needed to survive the rest of the round.
But ‘KingRy’ bounced back in the tenth by landing a flurry of punches to score a second knockdown and a fast right-left hook combination in the 11th to floor Haney for a third time.
However, in between the knockdowns, Haney was controlling the fight with his jab and pushing Garcia back - yet ‘The Dream’ did not have the power to hurt Garcia.
Rounds two to six were not eventful as Garcia seemed to throw punches in spurts while Haney was more active.
One judge scored the contest 112-112, whereas the two other judges favoured Garcia with respective scorecards of 114-110 and 115-109.
Due to missing weight, Garcia did not capture the WBC super lightweight championship originally on the line and Haney retained the title despite losing.
After getting knocked out by Gervonta Davis in April 2023 which included a catchweight of 136 lbs and a rehydration clause of 10lbs, Garcia is now on a two-fight winning streak with victories over Haney and Oscar Duarte.
In his post fight press conference Garcia stated he wants to move up in weight.
Garcia said: “I’m moving up. I’m not doing 140, I’m going 147. I can’t make 140. I technically never even fought at 140. I fought every time at 143. My body literally can’t go lower than 143. It’s impossible. I tried every technique. I can’t do it.”
Meanwhile, after becoming undisputed at 135 lbs with consecutive victories over George Kambosos, winning a close decision against Vasyl Lomachenko and defeating Regis Prograis to become a two-weight world champion, Haney now has a record of 31-1.