The mind games between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have taken a strange turn stemming from Garcia leaking an old sparring video featuring Haney.
Garcia apparently thought a sparring session from nine years ago showing Haney getting hit hard by Gervonta Davis was a clever way to get under his opponent’s skin.
Haney responded by not seeming to be fazed at all, writing on X he made a bet to get in the ring with Davis and it paid off for him.
Haney and Garcia are doing a good job of selling this fight, even if some of the verbal sparring is going way over the top.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Garcia vowed to retire if he gets knocked out in the first round when pressed by Devin’s father, Bill Haney.
“If you get knocked out in the first round, are you going to retire?,” Bill Haney asked.
“I’ll give you my word,” Garcia replied.
Haney threatened to boycott that press conference, because he felt Garcia was wasting everyone’s time with all of the outside noise.
Garcia’s decision to show a video of Haney getting hit hard by Davis was interesting because Tank handed Garcia his first—and to date, only—career loss with a seventh-round TKO in April 2023.
Even though the outcome of that bout was pretty lopsided, with Garcia getting knocked down twice before the TKO, it was a massive financial success with an estimated 1.2 million pay-per-view buys in the United States.
Haney is an ascending superstar in the sport with a 31-0 record. A fight with Garcia that could do tremendous business will only help raise his profile, especially if he comes out of the bout with a victory.
The Haney-Garcia showdown for the WBC super lightweight championship will take place on April 20 in Las Vegas.
