Ryan Garcia is confident in his victory over Devin Haney on Saturday, April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The LA-based contender looks to pull an upset and claim the WBC super lightweight title against the Bay Area champion. The world championship bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Once-beaten Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) targets his second straight victory. In his previous outing last December, the 25-year-old native of Victorville, California stopped Oscar Duarte Jurado in the eighth round to rebound from his first career defeat via seventh-round TKO against Gervonta Davis last April.
Undefeated Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) of San Francisco makes the first defense of his WBC 140-pound belt. The 25-year-old former undisputed lightweight champion landed the belt last December, when he defeated Regis Prograis by unanimous decision to become a new champion.
“I’m feeling good,” Garcia said at a media workout today. “I’m on track to make weight – I was at around 146 yesterday and we’re continuing to train hard like we always do.”
“The interpretations of other people – that’s on them. I know I am training hard. I am feeling great, looking good in the gym, people just need to look at the facts. I don’t regret anything I said or did in the lead up to this fight. I’m just ready to kick a** on April 20. I know I can say a lot, but I know I need to show it.”
“You won’t hear from any trainer out there that I don’t train hard. To me, it’s very disrespectful to dismiss all the hard work I have done since I was a young boy coming up. I have been training since I was seven years old. It’s a slap in the face to all the work me and my family did.”
“It’s going to be light work for me. I am going to cook Devin Haney. Just another day in the office. Devin is not on my level and he will never be on my level.”
In the co-feature on the card, Arnold Barboza Jr (29-0, 11 KOs) of Long Beach, California goes up against Sean McComb (18-1, 5 KOs of Northern Ireland. The pair squares off in the 10-round bout with the WBO Intercontinental super lightweight title on the line.
Among Haney vs Garcia PPV undercard bouts, Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuziev (13-1, 10 KOs) defends his his WBA Intercontinental super middleweight strap against Pierre Hubert Dibombe (22-0-1, 12 KOs) of France. As well, John “Scrappy” Ramirez (13-0, 9 KOs) of Los Angeles takes on David Jimenez (15-1, 11 KOs) of Costa Rica for the interim WBA super flyweight belt. In addition, Charles Conwell (18-0, 13 KOs) of Cleveland Heights, OH and Nathaniel Gallimore (22-7-1, 17 KOs) of Des Plaines, Illinois go head to head at super welterweight.