Ryan Garcia overcame the odds and secured the win against Devin Haney on April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The once-beaten contender of Victorville, California defeated San Francisco’s undefeated world champion by majority decision. The scores were 112-112, 114-110 and 115-109.
LA-based Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) was ineligible to claim the WBC 140-pound title against Bay Area’s Haney (31-1, 15 KOs), as he missed weight by 3.2 pounds.
Garcia sent Haney down in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds. In the seventh round he lost a point for hitting on the break.
“I shouldn’t have put too much pressure on myself to stop him, because every time I hurt him, I went crazy and I couldn’t stop him,” Ryan Garcia said. “I think the ref should’ve stopped the fight. He [Haney] was really hurt. I felt bad, I even looked at Bill to stop the fight”
“The guy was holding me for dear life,” Garcia said regarding the point being deducted in seventh round. “I felt the opportunity to keep swinging while my hands were free. I should’ve knocked him out that seventh round. They stole that from me. I’m surprised he has so much heart and recovery. He got wobbled bad in the first round. I thought it was over. He even hurt me with a hook. At the end of the day, I’m going to fight him, win or lose.”
Post-fight Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney verbally agreed to a rematch.