WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney 31-0 (15) says his next opponent Ryan Garcia 24-1 (20) turned up drunk to their initial press conference to announce their fight, adding that he is deluded if he thinks the bout can be moved from New York to Las Vegas for the highly prized May 4 date.
Former undisputed lightweight champion Haney, 25, will defend the belt he won against Regis Prograis 29-2 (24) last December when he takes on Garcia, also 25, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 20.
“Ryan was at the press conference, drunk as a skunk, but hopefully, he gets it together by April 20th, and I’m going to have him punch drunk on that date,” said Haney.
With Garcia from Los Angeles and Haney hailing from San Francisco, it would seem a natural for the fight to take place on the west coast. Garcia wants the bout to take place in Las Vegas but Haney doesn’t care where he boxes.
“We know that Ryan does not want the fight to be here [in NYC]. Behind closed doors he’s tricking the people, he’s doing anything that he can to make the fight go to Vegas on a later date, but the fight needs to happen on April 20 at the Barclays here in New York. It’s going to be one hell of an event,” Haney said.
“This is what I know. Ryan is reaching out to my team, DAZN and Golden Boy, and we’re all talking about it. Ryan is trying to get the fight moved to a later date in Vegas. He keeps saying it’s on May 4th, but it can’t be on May 4th. Canelo is fighting on May 4th.
“He keeps saying, ‘we can do it on Cinco de Mayo’. We can’t do it, so what is he talking about?
“It’s always been Devin Haney vs everybody. I’ve got a good team around me. The world is tuning into it and I can’t wait.
“I’m excited to give the fans a great fight. Tell Ryan, don’t pull out. Don’t try and get the fight nowhere else. The fight needs to be here in New York City on April 20th and it’s going to be massive.
“It’s that big. It’s the media capital of the world. Look at how many guys are here right now and capture it. This is where we get the eyeballs that we need. The fight will do great anywhere, but there’s no better place than New York right now.”
Garcia says his priorities have changed since he has grown into the pros after achieving many of his goals along the way.
“It’s just a big opportunity for me. When I first came in the game I just wanted to make a bunch of money and then I did that. But now I want to go for the the legacy, I want to go for the belts,” said Garcia.
“Devin is in the way, I’m on my vengeance arc. I’m ready to get back in blood in everything. So I’m coming straight for his neck, I promise you that. It’s going to be ugly.
“I mean, I could go all day long. I’m not going to get into that, he’s going to get his ass whooped and that’s it.”
The pair have a rivalry dating back to the amateurs when they split half a dozen fights.
“At the end of the day it’s personal now and it’s bigger than boxing,” said Haney. “We’ve been rivals since we were nine, 10 years old and now it’s time to seal the deal when it counts for everything on April 20th.”
Haney highlighted the lone loss on Garcia’s ledger, a seventh-round knockout at the heavy hands of Baltimore southpaw Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis 29-0 (27) in April last year.
“We’ve seen Ryan quit before. We seen him take a knee before and quit and on April 20th it won’t be no different,” Haney said. “DAZN, they put the bounty up. On April 20th I’m capturing the bounty and we coming home with the victory.”
