Ryan Garcia dropped Devin Haney three times en route to a majority decision victory in their 12-round super lightweight bout in New York City, with the 25-year-old challenging his worrying pre-fight antics.
Garcia threw out a series of erratic social media posts and shared several conspiracy theories in the weeks leading up to the fight with WBC super lightweight world champion Haney.
He said he had somehow lost access to his credit cards and mobile phone, raising concerns for his well-being, although he assured his followers that he was fine.
But Garcia showed off his quick hands and all-around boxing prowess once he got in the ring, dropping Haney with a trademark left hook in the seventh round and sending the previously undefeated fighter to the canvas twice more, in the tenth and eleventh. rounds.
“Come on, guys, did you really think I was crazy? You lost your mind,” Garcia said after his victory.
“My left hook is my left hook. That’s a blessing from God.”
The judges scored the fight 112-112, 114-110, 115-109 in favor of Garcia, although the American was ineligible for Haney’s world title after missing weight.
Garcia drank a beer on the scale during the pre-fight weigh-in, although he later said it was carbonated apple juice.
Still, Garcia finished 3.2 pounds (1.45 kilograms) over the 140-pound weight limit, and Haney said Garcia fulfilled a bet to pay him $1.5 million — $500,000 for every pound he went over. .
“I don’t give a damn what people say about me,” Garcia said in his post-fight press conference, alongside boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya.
“I walked through fire and I still held it down and I still drank every day and I still hit it.
“I’m not necessarily proud of it, but I’m just saying it was a statement to show them that they really can’t fuck with me.”
Haney said he was disappointed with his performance.
“But I showed that I can fight after a fall and getting hurt,” he said.
“I would love to have a rematch. I gave him a chance, it’s only fair that he gives it back to me. He didn’t make weight, so I’m still the champion. We can do it again.”
García posted on social media that his “next fight is to save the children,” saying that “he is going to go [to the] “front lines”, without giving further details about which front lines he refers to.
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ABC/Reuters
