Ryan Garcia is taking no prisoners after shocking the combat sports world with his win over Devin Haney on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old was made a massive underdog with bookies heading into the bout and almost every expert in the sport picked against him. In fact, there were many who felt that he should be pulled from the fight after a series of outlandish antics and his massive 3.2lb weight miss.
But Garcia managed to prove the critics wrong with an undeniable performance against Haney, who had never lost as a professional in 31 previous fights. And while he didn’t crown himself the super-lightweight world champion, he has now etched his name on to the list of boxing’s top current stars.
Ryan Garcia overcomes the odds as he drops Devin Haney three times in world title win
Straight from the off, Garcia pushed the pace and almost had Haney down within a minute as he landed his patented left hook on the two-weight champion. And despite struggling to gain momentum throughout, he got the all-important knockdown in round seven.
Garcia was almost immediately brought back down to earth as referee Harvey Dock took a point from him after throwing a punch while leaving the clinch. He also sent Haney to the canvas twice more, although both were marked down as slips.
However, it didn’t matter as he landed two more legitimate thudding knockdowns in rounds ten and 11 to take the lead on the night. And despite one judge scoring the bout a draw, Garcia had his hand raised in one of the year’s biggest boxing upsets.
Ryan Garcia demands that former world champion Timothy Bradley quits commentating after Devin Haney win
Garcia is no stranger to feuds in and out of the ring, and has taken aim at all sorts of personalities around the sport over the years. Even his own promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins haven’t been safe in the past as he makes his opinions, often controversial, known.
Most recently, he has taken issue with the former two-weight world champion Timothy Bradey Jr, who has been critical of his antics and ability in the past. The ex-fighter has said that he “might as well” consider retirement from being an analyst should Garcia win, which wasn’t forgotten after the fact.
Following an explosive post-fight press conference where he left the stage telling Bradley to “suck his d***”, Garcia continued with a tweet towards the legendary fighter. “Timothy Bradley you said you would stop commentating be a man b****.”
Two-weight world champion Timothy Bradley responds to Ryan Garcia calling for his commentary retirement
Bradley, however, has declared that he is sticking with the sport and taken aim back at Garcia with his own social media messages. He reposted a fan message noting that he never promised to retire, and shared a number of lengthy messages to his followers.
“Thank you all for acknowledging me and what I do day in and day out,” he wrote. “Just like any other day your opinion is as good as mine. You don’t like it is on you. I’m not loosing sleep but all of you are. I’m a professional that has done what every fighter does to get into the ring.
“The fact that I speak with honesty while everyone chooses to be a yes man is not my problem… Keep endorsing what you want. A holy person that speaks so much about his savior and how he cares about children, but then examples the opposite is not someone I can take seriously.
“In the end I’m glad boxing fans got what they paid for.”