The Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia rematch is pencilled in for later this year.
Garcia and Haney first met in April 2024 in a fight that had a controversial build-up due to the erratic behaviour of Garcia, leading to him missing weight and being ineligible to win Haney’s WBC super-lightweight title that was set to be on the line.
The performance of ‘King Ry’ was anything but erratic, as he dropped Haney several times on his way to a points victory. The controversy didn’t end there though, as it was revealed Garcia had failed two drugs tests around the fight. The result was subsequently overturned to a no contest.
Garcia was handed a one-year suspension, and he will make his return at Times Square in May when he faces Rolly Romero. Haney also returns on the same card, as he goes up against Jose Ramirez.
Provided that both come through with victories, Haney and Garcia are then expected to take part in their second meeting before the end of 2025.
Some of boxing’s biggest names have already weighed in on how the rematch may go, with multi-weight world champion Claressa Shields now the latest to do so.
Shields was unhappy with Garcia’s antics in the first fight, and made that point perfectly clear in an interview with Fight Hub TV.
“Devin is so much better than me man. As far as character. Every time I see Ryan I would have fought him. ‘You used drugs to cheat against me, it happened on national TV, you mocked me, you laughed about it. You didn’t take any accountability.’
“If that was to happen to me I would fight that person every chance I got. In the rematch I hope that Ryan goes through VADA testing like Devin and they can have a clean fight and we can see who the better fighter is.
“I feel the damage is already done. It was 12 hard rounds. He got knocked down a lot. He took a very bad beating and he had to deal with the aftermath of it. I don’t look at it as just a fight, I look at what fighters go through after a fight.
“I have to give a lot of respect to Devin because he still walks around like he’s that guy which he should, but I don’t know if I would still have the same confidence like that if something happened to me.”
Speaking to The Main Event in a seperate interview, Shields said ‘on an evening playing field’ Haney will be better, and that she has always considered him the better fighter.
