Tag: Devin Haney

Ryan Garcia addresses alleged drug use in heated press conference confrontation with Devin Haney

Ryan Garcia faces off with Devin HaneyThe press conference between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney erupted into allegations of drug use. On Saturday, April 20,…

Ryan Garcia faces off with Devin Haney

The press conference between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney erupted into allegations of drug use.

On Saturday, April 20, Haney will put his WBC super lightweight title on the line against ‘The Flash’ in a bout scheduled to emanate from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Ahead of their highly anticipated clash, the two warriors met at a press event in Los Angeles to promote the bout.

While there, Garcia struggled to speak at times, citing a sore throat. That led Haney to accuse Garcia of using cocaine and suggesting that the former interim lightweight champion stop partaking in the substance to help preserve his voice. Garcia immediately denied the allegations.

“I want to clarify some things,” Garcia said as Haney continued to levy allegations. “I don’t do cocaine. I would do a live drug test… I drink, and I smoke weed, and so has the majority of this room. You finally got somebody that raised their hands saying I’m real, I’m like this, I do drink, I do smoke, now what? Guess what? We all have flaws, and we all evolve as people.“

It’s the second time this week that Ryan Garcia has found himself the subject of many a headline.

During an appearance on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, ‘King Ryan’ claimed that he would “destroy” UFC bantamweight world champion Sean O’Malley inside the Octagon. That sparked a bitter back-and-forth between the two combat sports stars, ending with ‘Sugar’ stating that he would kill Garcia “within minutes.”

Garcia goes into his title fight with Haney carrying a 24-1 record, his lone loss coming against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in April 2023. He has since bounced back with an eighth-round KO of Oscar Duarte in December.

Haney, on the other hand, is undefeated in his pro boxing career with a 31-0 record, 15 of those victories coming by way of knockout.

Official – Devin Haney set to defend WBC title in April championship fight against Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas

Devin Haney set to defend WBC title in championship fight with Ryan Garcia in AprilAn undisputed WBC super lightweight title fight between division gold holder, Devin Haney, and former interim WBC lightweight gold…

Devin Haney set to defend WBC title in championship fight with Ryan Garcia in April

An undisputed WBC super lightweight title fight between division gold holder, Devin Haney, and former interim WBC lightweight gold holder, Ryan Garcia is slated for April 20. from Las Vegas, Nevada in a championship showdown.

Haney, who currently boasts an unbeaten 31-0 professional record, landed the WBC super lightweight championship back in December in San Francisco, landing a unanimous decision win over Regis Prograis.

Devin Haney set to fight Ryan Garcia on April 20.

As for Garcia, the 25-year-old Californian is currently boasting a 24-1 professional record, returning from his first-ever career loss in a knockout defeat to Gervonta Davis, with an eighth round knockout win over Oscar Duarte last December. News of Devin Haney’s super lightweight title defense against Ryan Garcia was first reported by ESPN.

“Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have struck a deal to fight April 20 in Las Vegas for Haney’s junior welterweight championship, sources tell ESPN,” Mike Coppinger posted on X. “Haney lands another marquee fight – his biggest yet – as he continues his star climb while Garcia lands his first title shot.” 

Haney, 25, previously held WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF gold at the lightweight limit, retaining said titles in a decision win over Ukrainian favorite, Vasily Lomachenko, which followed a pair of successful title fight defenses in consecutive victories over George Kambosos Jr. 

A heavy striker and revered knockout artist, from 24 professional victories, Garcia has turned in 20 professional knockout stoppages – including notable wins over the likes of Francisco Fonseca, Luke Campbell, and Javier Fortuna. Garcia’s 2021 knockout win over British striker, Campbell saw him minted as the interim WBC lightweight champion to boot. 

Taking on WBA lightweight champion, Davis back in a blockbuster April fight, Garcia suffered his first professional defeat in the form of a seventh round KO loss in ‘Sin City’. 

Who wins in a WBC super lightweight title fight: Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia?

Devin Haney defeats Regis Prograis via unanimous decision to win WBC super lightweight Title – Haney vs. Prograis (Highlights)

Devin HaneyDevin Haney retained his undefeated record on Saturday night, scoring a decisive victory over Regis Prograis. Emanatating from the…

Devin Haney

Devin Haney retained his undefeated record on Saturday night, scoring a decisive victory over Regis Prograis.

Emanatating from the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif, Haney (30-0, 15 KO) delivered another dominant performance to claim the WBC super lightweight world championship. Through 12 rounds of action, Haney was in complete control, essentially playing with his prey throughout the 36-minute affair.

The most exciting moment of the bout came in the third round when Haney landed a big right hand that put Prograis on the canvas momentarily.

Prograis managed to get up and make it through the remainder of the fight, but never posed much of a threat from that point on.

Official Result: Devin Haney def. Regis Prograis via unanimous decision (120-107, 120-107, 120-107)

Check Out Highlights From Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis Below:

Khamzat Chimaev dubs Devin Haney a racist after the boxing star said he’d never lose to a ‘White boy’

Devin HaneyReigning unified lightweight world champion Devin Haney found himself under fire in 2020 after making the claim that “no white boy” could ever beat him in the boxing ring. “I can tell you this — I will never lose to a white boy in my life,” Haney said in an interview with 78SPORTSTV’s YouTube channel. […]

Devin Haney

Reigning unified lightweight world champion Devin Haney found himself under fire in 2020 after making the claim that “no white boy” could ever beat him in the boxing ring.

“I can tell you this — I will never lose to a white boy in my life,” Haney said in an interview with 78SPORTSTV’s YouTube channel. “I don’t care what nobody got to say. Listen, can’t no white boy beat me, I don’t care, on any day of the week. I fight a white boy like 10 times, I’m gonna beat him 10 times.”

Khamzat Chimaev did not take kindly to Haney’s comments, recently revealing that it prompted him to unfollow the undefeated boxer on social media. ‘Borz’ also went so far as to dub ‘The Dream’ as a racist more than three years removed from the controversial remarks.

“I unfollowed him after that video. He’s too arrogant,” Chimaev said in a video on social media. “He said he’ll never lose to a white boy. That’s racist. If I say I’ll never lose to a black guy, the world will be like, ‘Khamzat doesn’t like black people.’ Black guys can fight white guys. What’s the difference? The goal is the same.”

He continued, “When a black guy says that, it’s no big deal. If I say that, the whole world will discuss it. I got black friends and white friends. I don’t care if you’re black, white, orange, blue.”

Haney Offered an Apology Shortly After Making the Controversial Comment

Shortly following his comments, Haney attempted to mitigate the damage via a couple of posts on social media.

“I’m not racist and I never will be a racist. I’m chasing greatness,” he said in his first post.

He then posted: “I just had a very positive conversation with Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC, and confirmed to him directly my commitment to be a role model and my absolute rejection of discrimination of any kind.”

Though the comments have largely been forgiven and forgotten in the combat sports community, it’s clear that Khamzat Chimaev is still holding onto that grudge.

Undefeated boxing star Devin Haney arrested, charged with felony possession of a concealed weapon

Devin HaneyUndefeated lightweight boxing world champion Devin Haney has been arrested and charged with a felony after an unregistered semi-automatic firearm was found in his vehicle. Per a report from TMZ Sports, Devin Haney is currently free on bail after the weapon was found under the driver’s seat of a car registered in his name during […]

Devin Haney

Undefeated lightweight boxing world champion Devin Haney has been arrested and charged with a felony after an unregistered semi-automatic firearm was found in his vehicle.

Per a report from TMZ Sports, Devin Haney is currently free on bail after the weapon was found under the driver’s seat of a car registered in his name during a routine traffic stop.

Devin Haney is said to have left a Los Angeles nightclub around midnight on Wednesday. Minutes later, local police pulled the vehicle over due to an unsafe lane change and a failure to use a turn signal. According to authorities, Haney was not driving the vehicle. The person behind the wheel disclosed that there was a firearm underneath the driver’s seat. Neither Haney nor the driver took ownership of the weapon, but because the vehicle was registered to Haney, he was arrested and booked for felony possession of a concealed weapon.

Haney was released just past 8:00 a.m. on Thursday morning on $35,000 bail. He is scheduled to be back in court next month.

Devin Haney’s Father Comments on His Son’s Arrest

The 24-year-old’s father and trainer, Bill Haney told ESPN that the whole thing was a misunderstanding that he is confident will be cleared up in court.

“It’s a misunderstanding that will be solved when Devin goes to court. It’s unfortunate that he was arrested with his armed licensed security. I’m confident things are going to be worked out.”

Devin Haney’s arrest comes less than two months removed from his somewhat controversial unanimous decision victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in May. Haney, who currently reigns as the undisputed lightweight boxing world champion, has seen his popularity explode in recent years, thanks in large part to back-to-back victories against George Kambosos in June and October of last year.

Haney currently carries a 30-0 record with 15 victories coming by way of knockout.

Israel Adesanya weighs in on Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko decision: ‘People don’t know sh*t about boxing’

AdesanyaIsrael Adesanya shared his thoughts on the controversial decision between unified lightweight world champion Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko. On Saturday night, the two lightweight greats went toe-to-toe in a 12-round war with Haney’s lightweight titles up for grabs. By the time it was all said and done, a majority of boxing fans had Lomachenko […]

Adesanya

Israel Adesanya shared his thoughts on the controversial decision between unified lightweight world champion Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

On Saturday night, the two lightweight greats went toe-to-toe in a 12-round war with Haney’s lightweight titles up for grabs. By the time it was all said and done, a majority of boxing fans had Lomachenko doing enough to walk away with Haney’s collection of gold. However, the judges didn’t see it that way. Haney walked out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena with a unanimous decision victory, much to the chagrin of the live audience and those watching around the world.

Weighing in on the result in a video clip on YouTube, Israel Adesanya recognized that Lomachenko regularly finished stronger than his opponent, suggesting he did enough to leave Las Vegas as the unified champion. But given the incredibly close nature of the contest, ‘The Last Stylebender’ stopped short of crying foul as most fans did on social media.

“I’m not a judge, also, because you have to realize recency bias,” Adesanya said. “Sometimes, it affects judges, it affects fans, it affects even fighters, that’s why, whatever you’re fighting, when you know it’s like 30 seconds, 20 seconds, and you hear the clapping, and you try and win the later part just ’cause that’s what the judges remember last.

“So Devin started strong, but Loma finished stronger. It’s a close fight, like I said, they both were right there, they both were stoic, focused and just yeah, didn’t back down, so. Glad I’m not a judge. I’m not a boxing f*cking official. Glad I’m just a fan, and guess what? Most people don’t know sh*t about boxing” (h/t MMA News)

Both fighters had their moments in all 12 rounds with Haney regularly starting fast and blitzing his opponent before inevitably slowing down in the latter half. That allowed Lomachenko the opportunity to turn up the heat in the second half of each round and finish strong. Like Adesanya, many believed ‘Hi-Tech’ did enough at the end of each round to steal the fight, but Haney’s work in the early going should not be overlooked.

As for what comes next for the unified lightweight champion, Israel Adesanya believes a showdown between Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis is the fight to make. “Make that fight happen,” Adesanya responded when asked about the potential lightweight superfight.