Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney could be approaching upset losses in their shared May card on Times Square in New York. Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) fights Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz while Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) goes up against former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez in Turki Al-Sheikh’s card.
Layoff Impact
Ryan and Haney chose the wrong tune-up opponents to fight coming off 13-month layoffs. The 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) and former WBA light welterweight champion Pitbull Cruz are not the right opponents for any fighter to face after a year of inactivity. Those two would be a nightmare for Garcia and Devin, even if they were active.
If Kingry and Haney had good punch resistance and could handle getting hit to the breadbasket, facing Ramirez and Cruz wouldn’t be a big deal. That’s not the case. They’re both fragile fighters that have been broken in battle.
Garcia-Cruz will be fought at a catchweight of 143 or 144 at welterweight, and that’s perfect for the powerful 5’4″ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs). In Pitbull’s two fights at 140 against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, he was hitting with more power.
Rayo would have likely been knocked out if he hadn’t used his new Lomachenko-esque movement to evade the constant pressure from Cruz. Kingry doesn’t possess the same ability to move, and he’ll be forced to fight for three minutes of every round at close quarters. If Ryan fails to hurt Pitbull, he will be in trouble.
50-50 Fights
Turki has given fans two great 50-50 fights with his Garcia-Cruz & Haney-Ramirez doubleheader at Times Square. If he’s okay with Ryan and Devin potentially losing their fights, this is great. Al-Sheikh is already planning for Garcia-Haney fo fight a rematch in October in Riyadh. That fight is going to be tarnished if one or both lose their tune-ups in May.
This is a better deal for fans on PPV than if these two were fed tomato cans, as the custom for wealthy high-profile fighters coming extended layoffs.
Jose Ramirez lost to highly ranked unbeaten light welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. by a 10-round unanimous decision on November 16th. That fight was competitive.
If Barboza Jr. had been stationary, he wouldn’t have won because Ramirez worked him over when he was in the pocket. Devin doesn’t have the same evasive style as Barboza, nor does he possess his power. He won’t be able to do the same things that he did to fight Ramirez off.
Read the full article here
