Ryan Garcia spun the block and arrived back at his most desired destination.
Boxing Scene has confirmed that negotiations have resumed in a bid for the 25-year-old contender to challenge unbeaten two-division and reigning WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney. The development—which was first reported by FightHype.com—comes less than four weeks after Garcia instructed Golden Boy Promotions to abandon talks for a fight that was initially put into play last December.
“People will be shocked but I will not be shocked and then Devin will be destroyed,” Garcia told Fight Hype founder Ben ‘Hype’ Thompson. “His daddy’s gonna have to help him up.”
Golden Boy and Garcia have both previously confirmed an April 20 DAZN Pay-Per-View date has been reserved for his next outing, though without a set fight as this goes to publication.
Garcia (24-1, 20KOs) has been all over the map particularly in the wake of his eighth-round knockout of Mexico’s Oscar Duarte last December 2 in Houston, Texas. The win came one week before Las Vegas’ Haney (31-0, 15KOs) lifted the WBC 140-pound title in a tour-de-force performance versus Regis Prograis atop a December 9 DAZN Pay-Per-View from Chase Center in his birth town of. San Francisco, California.
Neither boxer currently has a fight scheduled, which makes the high-profile matchup all but a no-brainer.
That hasn’t stopped Garcia from causing chaos along the way.
The two sides confirmed a fresh round of negotiations in mid-December. Garcia insisted earlier this month that he would instead revisit plans to challenge WBA 140-pound titleholder Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-1, 13KOs).
“I’ve notified my team I’m going a different route,” Garcia said in a January 6 post on X. “My intent now is to fight Rolando Romero.”
Those plans quickly unraveled, picked back up and once again fell through the cracks.
Romero is now confirmed to next face Mexico City’s Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in the co-feature of the inaugural Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Amazon Prime Pay-Per-View event on March 30 in Las Vegas.
The news came as a surprise to Garcia, who believed his team was in talks to secure the fight. Those claims were refused by Romero and even Golden Boy Promotions co-founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya.
That winding road map has now led back to Haney, who could benefit from the development.
The former undisputed lightweight champion is currently without an opponent, fight date or even set platform as he continues to test the free agent market. Looming ahead is an eventual mandatory title defense versus Barcelona’s Sandor Martin (42-3, 15KOs), though the WBC has yet to order the fight.
Martin recently signed with Top Rank, who co-promoted Haney along with DiBella Promotions for three fights prior to his one-fight return to Matchroom Boxing for last December’s win over Prograis.
Garcia returned to the win column in his showing versus Duarte, his first fight since a seventh-round knockout defeat to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (29-0, 27KOs) last April 22 in Las Vegas. It was also his first fight since he relocated to the greater Dallas area to train under Derrick James.
The loss to Davis came just above the lightweight limit, with Davis’ WBA ‘Regular’ lightweight title not at stake for the bout. Should the Haney fight materialize, it will mark Garcia’s first shot at a full version of a major title.
Haney, also 25, and his father/trainer Bill Haney have spent the past month plotting their next move. Most of the talk centered around rumored fights discussed with Davis and IBF junior welterweight titlist Subriel Matias but there appears to be something real to consider as he continues to test the free agent market.
Garcia is banking on his number to be called and to make the Haneys regret the choice.
“I’m telling Bill this. I’m gonna tell him this now,” promised Garcia. “He will have three chances to stop the fight. The first one, if he doesn’t do it then who knows what’s gonna happen. I’m telling you, you’re gonna have three chances to help your son out in the fight. We’re gonna see if you really care about your son.”
By: Jake Donovan