A routine title defence proved to be any but for WBC junior welterweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 31-1 (15) when he came unstuck against the wildly erratic ‘King’ Ryan Garcia 26-1 (20) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday night.
The lead-up to the fight can only be described as chaotic with more drama unfolding the day before the bout when Garcia hit the scales to weigh in 3.2-pounds over the contract weight. Rather than strip the additional poundage he accepted a financial penalty, originally believed to be to he tune of $1.5 million payable to Haney, but reported by Dan Rafael to be $600,000 and a two percent slice of his pay-per-view upside.
The weight issue meant that Garcia would not be eligible to win the 25-year-old San Franciscan’s WBC belt.
Conventional wisdom was that Garcia’s out of the ring distractions would carry over to his performance between the four ropes and while it’s true the 25-year-old from Los Angeles lost focus at times during the fight, the moments that he was switched on were enough to get the job done and secure a majority decision victory against all odds.
Early in the first round it was clear Garcia wasn’t just turning up for a pay cheque. He clipped Haney with a left hook that made the champion’s eyes roll back in his head.
The former undisputed lightweight champion fought to survive the round before cautiously working his way back into the fight. In the third round Haney stunned Garcia with a left hook of his own and he looked to be in full control through six rounds before disaster struck in the seventh, courtesy of another Garcia left hook. This time Haney went down.
Clearly buzzed, Haney went back into survival mode and was gifted pressure time to recover when referee Harvey Dock halted the action to admonish Garcia for hitting on the break and docking a point from the challenger.
The fight was about even at this stage and if Haney could steady the ship, he was a chance to coast to a points victory and for the next two rounds that looked like it would be the case. But the ever-dangerous Garcia turned the fight on its head again in the 10th, decking Haney again with, you guessed it, another left hook.
Haney wobbled around the ring for the rest of the stanza and was lucky to survive, but things didn’t get any better for him in the penultimate stanza. Another left hook sent Haney down for the third time in the fight and for the first time a Garcia victory didn’t look just possible, but probable.
Haney looked in a bad way as he headed back to his corner was Garcia was jumping out of his skin in excitement. His trainer Derrick James sat him down firmly and implored him to focus for the last round and not let Haney off the hook.
Garcia came home with a wet sail but not before abandoning coach James’ instructions in the last minute of the round to engage in a bit of showboating.
As they went to the scorecards and ebullient Garcia and a dejected Haney anticipated the results. Judge Max DeLuca scored the bout even 112-112, while judges Robin Taylor and Pat Valentine overruled with scores of 115-109 and 114-110 respectively.
“I mean, my left hook is my left hook,” said Garcia of the punch that did all the damage. “That’s blessed by God. Whenever I land it, it can put you down or out.”
Garcia added that he would be open to a rematch with Haney, saying: “We can run it back.”
As for the bizarre social media posts from Garcia going back two months, he said it was all part of a long con.
“Come on guys, you really thought I was crazy?” he said. “You done lost your whole mind.”
