The Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia rematch looked all but certain just weeks ago.
The two men first met back in April 2024 at the Barclays Center in New York, with Garcia dropping Haney multiple times on his way to an upset points victory.
That result was soon overturned though after ‘King Ry’ failed a drugs test, with the outcome changed to a no contest and Garcia handed a 12-month suspension.
He returned from that ban last month, taking on Rolano ‘Rolly’ Romero at Times Square in New York, with Haney competing on the same card against Jose Ramirez, where victories for both Garcia and Haney would have paved the way for a rematch later this year.
While Haney held up his end of the deal by defeating Ramirez, it wasn’t to be for Garcia, as he was dropped by Romero on his way to a unanimous decision defeat, sending the potential rematch into jeopardy.
Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya has now spoken out, telling FightHype that the plan is not to go ahead with it.
“No, that’s not the direction we want to go [Haney rematch]. Zero [interest] whatsoever. So I’m actually going to sit down with Ryan, I sat down with him already, and he’s in great spirits, we’re actually looking forward to the future and we’re just going to nail down exactly what the plans are going to be and put it in play.”
De La Hoya instead believes that ‘King Ry’ should look to avenge his loss to Romero.
“Well as a fighter, speaking to you as a fighter, not a promoter, that’s exactly what I would do right? So that would be the right move for him I think, go get revenge and you know in boxing you’re as good as your last fight so might as well go.”
It means that Haney is now seemingly looking for a different opponent for later this year as he looks to move back towards becoming world champion. One potential is Teofimo Lopez at either a catchweight or the 147 welterweight limit.
