Saturday"s encounter between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney was expected to be a forgone conclusion before the fight started. Instead, it turned out to be one of the biggest upsets in boxing in recent history.
For those that missed it, Garcia won by a majority decision in a fight where he was a heavy underdog. The battle at the Brooklyn"s Barclays Center saw two of the best lightweights in the world. Garcia stunningly knocked out his opponent three times in the vicious back and forth, a result few people expected.
Garcia knocked down Haney THREE different times 😱
(via @DAZNBoxing) pic.twitter.com/UsluyPgq1M
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 21, 2024
The fight was downgraded to a nine-title fight because Garcia had come in overweight for the encounter. The 25-year-old entered the fight with a 25-1 record with 20 KOs. Haney had entered with a 31-1 record and 15 KOs over his career.
I"m disappointed about my performance. I [showed I] was a true champion and I could fight after being knocked down," said Haney during the post match interview.
Prior to Saturday"s matchup, Garcia had been supremely confident and even taunted his opponent on several occasions. He admitted to drinking and smoking during the build up to the fight and even brought a beer to the weight in.
