How do I know Garcia-Haney was a big fight for boxing fans? Because 99.9% of all the emails I got this week have been about Garcia-Haney. So, let’s just focus on the “Dream’s” nightmare and the “King’s” coronation.
Garcia-Haney in a “Nut”shell
Hey Paul!
Great take on the Ryan Garcia fight. I'm not surprised by the outcome of this fight at all either. I do think Ryan has mental issues that he needs to deal with and those around him must pull him to the side. His pre-fight and post-fight antics were nothing short of someone who lost their mind. Spreading conspiracy theories online and repeating them during the post fight interview! What's up with this kid? Drinking beer during the weigh in, missing weight, then acknowledging that he drank during training camp is signs of someone who lacks discipline and self control. He definitely deserves praise for a tremendous victory. But let's not overlook the fact that Ryan Garcia has never been crowned a champion during the course of his professional career.
Conversely, Devin Haney has a lot of thinking to do himself. Is the Daddy/Manager/Trainer/Hypeman a good thing? Maybe he needs to reconsider. There were no technical directions being given to Haney during the course of the fight. After the first round, it was clear that Ryan’s left hook would be easy to land. Haney stood right in front of him and tried to brawl. For someone with Haney's technical caliber and fighting style he fought out of his element. He might have been out to prove that he was a killer/juggernaut/tough guy. When in fact all he had to do was stick to what got him this far and he would've had a better performance. If Haney is going to continue his career moving forward and get back to that top dog level, he needs to get back to the basics, and fight the amateur style that got him here. Nonetheless, it's time to move out of his father’s circle and chart his own path as a professional. If you were a Father/Trainer/Manager would you let your son fight a naturally bigger opponent who comes in 3.5 pounds over the weight limit?– Na'-il Rahman
Hey Na'-il.
Thanks.
This idea that Ryan Garcia was just “trolling” everyone, pretending to be nuts and lacking in training discipline, is utterly absurd. He looked like dog shit on Saturday and, as I wrote in this Monday’s Notes from the Boxing Underground column: “he clearly wasn’t preparing doggedly and furtively between social media bull sessions, fine-tuning his style and working on pacing, footwork, and conditioning.” He won the fight with a handful of big, fast, but sloppy left hands that Haney, for some reason (we’ll get into that later), couldn’t defend. Take away the knockdowns and this fight was a draw, mostly because, even with Haney reeling, unsteady, and unsure, he still gave away huge portions of the fight by simply not knowing what to do or how to position himself. In terms of skills, Garcia is actually regressing. So, again, he wasn’t fooling the world into thinking he wasn’t taking training seriously-- he actually wasn’t.
Moving forward, expect more of the same from Garcia. What motive would there be for him to change (other than for the pride of mastering his craft...yeah, right)? But that left hand is a danger to anyone. However, as Tank Davis proved, it can be nullified.
And that leads to the topic of Devin Haney and what went wrong.
He knew coming into this fight that Garcia’s only real weapon was his left hand. His father/trainer Bill Haney knew that. Shit, EVERYBODY knew that. Yet, Devin looked utterly incapable of defending against it. He seemed to have no Plan A, no Plan B and nowhere to turn to when he tasted his first bit of adversity in the opening seconds of the fight.
In my not-so-humble opinion, that’s on Bill Haney. The more and more I pay attention (because I tend not to pay too much attention to hype men and those shouting, jumping up and down for the cameras), the more I see a guy whose ego has run amok, trampling over the good work he’d done in getting Devin to a certain level. Bill always seems out to prove a point-- and that point always seems to be "I'm important, please see me as important." I wouldn’t doubt it for one second if he was hyper-focused on having his son brutalize and stop Garcia, for the sake of delivering a message and topping Tank Davis. If so, that mindset definitely worked against everything that made his son a success up to Saturday. And, yeah, I think it was that same hungry ego that let his son get in the ring with someone so wildly over the weight limit, fresh, who didn’t bother to try and make weight. A real trainer would’ve, at the very least, used Ryan missing weight as leverage, forcing him to try and dry out to the benefit of his own fighter.
It wouldn’t be unwise for Devin to maybe break free from daddy and get someone who’s all business, who can make him a more complete fighter and not a well-trained automaton. He needs to be fine-tuned and learn to improvise better-- something which will never happen under Bill’s heavy thumb.
Ryan Garcia = Adrien Broner?
Hey Paul,
Long time fan of your columns on Fight Hype. I just appreciate how honest you are about what you see, no b.s. just taking things for what they are. My question for you is that haven't we seen Ryan Garcia before...in the form of Adrien Broner?This isn't me hating on either one of them, I actually like both of them for what they bring to boxing. They are always entertaining, and watching them win or lose is a roller coaster ride the whole fight. However, they are what they are. Loud mouths, talented, entertaining, goofy, kind of weird, and ultimately people you know that you can't take seriously. And, they don't even take themselves seriously which is why, in Adrien Broner's case anyway as of right now, they are/will become high end gate keepers. Always around the top of whatever weight class they are in, but never the man.I'm curious if you see the parallels as well?Take it easy man, I appreciate the work.
– Cory Green
Hey Cory.
Thanks for the kind words.
That’s a really smart comparison-- Broner and Garcia. There are a lot of similarities. Broner also “got big” with his social media content before getting big with any ring work. It can be said that neither has taken their training seriously in their physical primes. And their body of work as boxers is also comparatively uneven, especially in relation to their natural gifts.
I see Garcia in for a good, sound crash in the future. For me, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” And it’s going to be uglier than Broner’s because it seems that Garcia has a far larger group of enablers and yes men around him, plus all that social media support for the enablers in cyber space.
But, definitely, good call with the comparison.
Garcia vs Haney: The Blueprint for Boxing to Grow
Hi, Magno!!
As always, wishing you and your family the best.
Let me start by congratulating you on your analysis of the Haney vs Garcia fight. One of the very few that gave Ryan a shot based on styles. I just did not see it that way, I saw it competitive in the first 6 rounds, then Haney cruising to a comfortable decision. Then again, this is why I love boxing, anything can happen. I have always given credit to Ryan and I think we should all do, for daring to be great and be willing to face the best out there, even though he is very flawed and in the current business, it is very easy to cherry pick and make your money, especially if you have drawing power. If talented and skilled boxers dare to face each other in their prime, the money will follow. Ryan has taken a stand against the promoters and the current business of boxing and he is one of the top three draws in the US.
I disagree with the assessment that if you don’t like what you are getting as a pay-per-view just don’t buy it, because in reality, except for the big big fights, the fans will not buy it, but will steal the fight. Unfortunately, I think the trend will increase with announcement of so many PPV fights in 2024. The media and the fans have to deliver the message that PPV should only be for big events, not to subsidize the promoters and or the networks. If not, then if you don’t like it don’t buy it can be used to justify about everything that is hurting boxing, Canelo doesn’t fight Benavidez then don’t buy his fights, bad judging, don’t buy the fights, etc. Hope Ryan motivates other generational talents to do the same.
– Benjamin from PR
Hey Benjamin.
I agree with what you’ve said-- in theory. There’s also something to be said for young fighters competing at a level relative to their current skill level. Ryan was out of his league against Tank, and it showed. Clipping Haney, meanwhile, said just about as much about Haney as it did about Ryan. I’d be fine with Ryan building to his current level, but that’s his call. IMO, it’s not a good career choice for a not-elite fighter to be competing against elites if his goal is to have a long-term career.
As for the PPV stuff. I think the only way for fans to show their displeasure with a product is by not purchasing it. It’s the same with any group of consumers. Lack of sales translates to “we must change” to companies. What other way is there for consumers to force change? What incentive would there be for a company to change, if they didn’t fear a consumer backlash? The problem is that too many fans ARE willing to pay for stuff that should be free. That gives promoters a green light to keep charging for everything.
Harvey Dock
How bad was that ref [for Garcia-Haney, Harvey Dock] and how bad are people hyping these fighters acting like they’re a Pernell Whitaker a Chavez a Camacho? I can go on and on. What do think? Horrible, horrible ref. Should put him under investigation. He was bad...second knockdown too much... could have counted him out.
– AF
Hey AF.
Yeah, the fight was exciting, but it was also a sloppy mess.
Harvey Dock is usually a good referee. He had a bad night. Could there have been some “this is not supposed to be happening” bias going on. Maybe. It sure did look like he was giving Devin every chance to recover. But that could just be our perception, watching the fight from a distance, excited about the turn of events, and eager to have the fighters get back to the action. I’m willing to cut him some slack for this one.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.