Haney’s Return Test: Judah Expects Vintage Form Against Ramirez, Blames Garcia’s PEDs

Former world champion Zab Judah expects Devin Haney to be in vintage form coming back from his loss to Ryan Garcia, going up against Jose Ramirez in a tough comeback match on May 2nd at Times Square in New York City.

Haney’s Comeback

Judah says fans shouldn’t view the former two-division world champion Haney’s loss to Ryan as a sign that he’s not the same great fighter they had believed him to be. It was because Devin was fighting a guy on “performance enhancing drugs” in his 12-round majority decision loss to Garcia on April 20th last year.

Ryan tested positive for the PED Ostarine after the fight, and was suspended for one year by the New York State Athletic Commission. Kingry rejects that, saying he didn’t take anything, but was “set up” by someone. Either way, he tested positive for the drug, and was fined and suspended for it.

Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) got his loss erased by the New York Commission, and will have a chance to show fans that he’s still great by beating the former WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) on Turki Alalshikh’s Fatal Fury card.

Some fans believe Haney’s dad, Bill Haney, failed him by agreeing to Ramirez being his comeback opponent for that card. He had no choice. The only way Devin could prove himself was to fight someone good to show that his punch resistance is still intact after his three-knockdown loss to Garcia.

In the main event, Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) faces Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in a welterweight contest. Turki plans to set up a rematch in October if Haney and Garcia are victorious.

Garcia’s PEDs

“This is a good fight for Devin coming back. I don’t want people to misconstrue what happened against Ryan Garcia. Devin is going to come back and show the world why his name is Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney, and why the world was tuning into him,” said Zab Judah to MillCity Boxing about Devin Haney’s last performance against Ryan being a reflection of his talent.

It’s a good comeback fight for Haney battling a still-in-top-form Jose Ramirez, but it’s also a risky one for him because this guy is arguably better than most of the fighters he’s faced. The only exceptions would be Ryan and Vasily Lomachenko. Ramirez is a better fighter than Garcia’s opponent Rolly Romero, and it shows that Haney isn’t afraid to test himself.

“Don’t let his loss to Ryan Garcia put everyone in a frenzy. He fought a guy that was on performance enhancing drugs.

“It’s a good match because they’re both coming off a loss,” said Judah about Haney and Jose Ramirez both coming off losses. If you’re a fighter coming off a loss, you’re going to train harder than ever. This should be a great fight.”