NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia knocked Devin Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss, winning the 12-round super lightweight fight by majority decision but not the title because he was over the weight limit.
WBC super-lightweight world champion Haney suffered the first loss of his career as he was knocked down in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds.
Judges scored the fight 112-112, 114-110, 115-109 in favour of Garcia, though the 25-year-old American was ineligible for Haney’s title after missing weight.
In a chaotic buildup to the fight, the American professional boxer Garcia drank a bottle of beer on the scales and sent out a string of erratic posts on his X and Instagram profile.
“Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy?! You lost your whole mind!” Garcia said after his victory according to Reuters. “My left hook is my left hook. That’s blessed by God.”
Haney said he was disappointed with his performance. “But I showed that I can fight after a knockdown and getting hurt,” he added.
“I would love a rematch. I gave him a shot, it’s only right he gives me a shot back. He didn’t make weight, so I’m still the champion. We can run it back.”
Their scheduled 12-round meeting at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center had been downgraded to a non-title bout when Garcia weighed in at 143.2lbs, a yawning 3.2lbs above the division limit and a debacle that was interpreted as a sign of ill preparation and tumult within his camp.
It also created a situation where Garcia could no longer take Haney’s championship, only his unblemished professional record. Against all odds that’s exactly what happened. “Come on, guys, you really thought I was crazy?” Garcia said afterward.
Garcia came out guns blazing from the opening bell, wobbling Haney with a left hook that sent the crowd into hysterics at the arena. Haney took a more aggressive tack over the next few rounds and began dutifully working behind the jab, backing the challenger up, rocking him with a right hand in the third and visibly frustrating Garcia as he ate one counter after another while pressing for openings to land his prodigious left hand.
But just when it looked as if Haney was pulling away on the scorecards, Garcia detonated a left hook early in the seventh that sent the champion to the floor for the first time in 32 professional fights.
Garcia was slapped with a point deduction by referee Harvey Dock moments later for hitting on the break while trying to close the show, giving Haney precious seconds of recovery time, but the badly hurt champion appeared on rubbery legs well into the eighth.
Haney showed remarkable grit and recuperative powers but couldn’t keep out of the way of Garcia’s loaded shots.
After going down beneath a heavy right in the 10th and a vicious counter left in the 11th, the bloodied champion spent most of the final session on the receiving end of Garcia’s taunts.
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” Haney said. “But I showed I’m a true champion and I can fight after being knocked down and hurt. He caught me early, caught me by surprise. We trained for [the left hook], but I got in there and I fell asleep, and he caught me with it.
“I was more surprised than hurt the first time. He jumped on me, like we knew he would, but I was just sleeping. I thought the ref let him turn his back and hold a little too much.”
