Ryan Garcia has faced both Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney.
Garcia was dealt the first defeat of his pro campaign by Davis, who dropped the young star twice to score a seventh round KO. Garcia has made it clear that the catchweight of 136 pounds severely limited his efforts on fight night.
He promptly moved up to the 140 ranks, but failed to make even that when facing Haney, coming in at 143 and therefore ineligible to win Haney’s WBC Super-Lightweight World Title.
Despite that, the fight went ahead and Garcia knocked the champion down three times before winning a majority decision after twelve. The result was overturned to a no-contest when it was discovered Garcia had twice tested positive for a banned substance.
With rematches against both on his mind, Garcia recently revealed that he believes Haney presents a much tougher challenge.
“Haney caught me, Gervonta I didn’t really [feel anything]. It wasn’t a hard fight I was just weak.
“It’s not a hard fight for me. You guys can pull up the picture of me how I looked for Tank and how I looked for Haney. I would beat Gervonta Davis worse than I beat Devin Haney.
“Haney is a harder fight than Gervonta. Gervonta would never fight me at 145 so it doesn’t really matter.”
The match-up to settle this debate between ‘Tank’ and Haney once looked likely, however Haney will next compete against Jose Ramirez at a catchweight of 144 pounds with a view to moving to welterweight thereafter. If he wins, and Ryan Garcia beats Rolando Romero on the same card, the pair will run it back.
Though Davis has fought as high as 140, he is unlikely to be joining Haney and Garcia at 147 anytime soon. Next up for him looks to be an immediate rematch with Lamont Roach Jr after keeping hold of his WBA 135 World Title with a controversial draw first time out.
