Gervonta Davis has weighed in on a second fight between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.
Davis knows Garcia well having handed him his first professional loss, dropping the young star twice for a stoppage win back in 2023. Garcia made no secret that he felt the 136 pounds catchweight hampered him, and promptly move up a division where he would meet Haney.
Haney held the WBC Super Lightweight World Title at the time of their fight, however Garcia missed weight and was ineligible to win it. A deal was struck and the fight went ahead, garnered extreme attention due to the challenger’s erratic behaviour pre-fight.
Garcia upset the odds massively when he put Haney down three times to win a majority decision after twelve. His victory lap was soon cut short, however, when it was found that he had twice tested positive for banned substance Ostarine.
With the result now overturned to a no contest, that pair are pencilled in to run it back later this year provided they both come through fights on the same card on May 2 – Haney against Jose Ramirez and Garcia against another former Davis victim in Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
Speaking to the media before his controversial draw with Lamont Roach Jr, Davis said that Haney ‘had’ Garcia in the early stages of the fight but employed the wrong gameplan thereafter.
“I mean, if he be able to slip the hook, he’ll be able to go ahead and [win] … Haney had him. In the beginning of the fight he had him, he just tried to press the issue and stay right there.”
Having said that, ‘Tank’ revealed that he was delighted when Garcia took over and won the fight, mainly due to Haney’s father and trainer Bill and his confidence.
“No lie, bro, off of that situation, I really was happy that Ryan whooped his ass. Cause his pops, oh my god, I was happy. I broke the TV. I slapped it so hard when he got dropped. I should’ve [put money on it.]”
As Davis heads towards a rematch with Roach, Haney and Garcia continue to prepare for their bouts in Times Square next month.
