Eddie Hearn says the “rematch is in tatters” between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney after their disastrous showings on the May 2nd Times Square card. Hearn states that both fighters need “another fight.” He doesn’t say who they should fight, but it would be a good idea for both to take safe opponents.
(Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom)
Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) was still ready to enter the ring for a face-off despite Ryan losing his headliner clash against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. From Devin’s standpoint, he felt he’d done his part by winning his tune-up fight against Jose Ramirez in the co-feature. He was ready to start promoting the planned October rematch with Kingry.
Hare-Like Movement
Hearn says he was told that Haney looked like a “Hare” inside the ring, moving nonstop, looking “petrified” against the former WBA and WBO light welterweight champion Ramirez. He won the fight by a 12-round unanimous decision. He looked so scared with the constant movement that came out of the battle, his stock having dropped like it would have if he’d lost. He could have fared better if he’d fought bravely in defeat, because at least he wouldn’t have looked like a chicken.
Hearn doesn’t say who Ryan and Haney could fight that would be good enough for them to redeem themselves. The fans won’t respect them if they fight a pair of tomato cans. They’ve got to fight high-caliber welterweights that can potentially beat them for them to come back. Will Devin and his father, Bill Haney, agree to fight a good contender to raise their stock for a rematch with Ryan? I doubt it.
“Devin had a lot of demons, but he didn’t do a very good attempt at masking them. I was getting messages from the first round, saying, ‘Devin looks petrified,’” said Eddie Hearn to the Chris Mannix YouTube channel, talking about Devin Haney’s performance against Jose Ramirez on May 2nd at Times Square. “He went through a lot in that Ryan Garcia fight, but he was just moving.
“Devin moved like a hare. It was frantic. Actually, when he held his feet in the few times that he did, he hurt Ramirez repeatedly. I felt like with his size, if he had held his feet, he’s have 100% stopped Ramirez in there. I don’t know if he’s not the same fighter or he needed those rounds to get over that barrier.”
Haney wouldn’t have stopped Ramirez if he had stood and traded with him. If anything, Haney would have been clipped because he got tagged a couple of times when he stopped running. Once he got hit, he took off like a rocket and sped around the ring. Devin doesn’t look like he could take a decent shot without dropping to the canvas. People fail to realize that Haney sparred during camp, and he likely was hurt repeatedly. That likely made him even more afraid to mix it up with Ramirez. He had the look of a fighter who was hurt in training camp.
Uninspired Garcia
“Then we moved on to Ryan Garcia, which was bizarre,” said Hearn. “No one really did anything. I don’t know what he was doing. Was it just that he got dropped? Derrick James was telling him the right things to do, but he never really tried. Is it the moment? Is it the confidence? Has he fallen out of love with it all? Did he get hurt and didn’t want to engage?”
Garcia did try to engage, but after he got hurt in the second round, he gave up quickly. He briefly fought back in that round, but felt Rolly’s power and didn’t dare take any chances again.
“None of them are really encouraging, but Rolly didn’t really do anything,” said Hearn. “It was a weird fight. Haney was getting in the ring after to do the face-off. You’ve got the big rematch now. The rematch is in tatters. It’s nowhere near the value that it was. And, I think both guys need another fight,” said Hearn.
Ryan and Haney do need another fight, but neither of them are going to take a chance of fighting a good enough opponent to make fans believe in them again. The only way they would do it is if Turki Alalshikh put their feet to the fire and told them they must beat the top killers at 147 or 140 for them to get the rematch. He should let them know that they must take the fight against top rung fighters, and if they lose, ‘No rematch.’ It’s just like real life. You don’t get rewarded for failure. Haney failed to entertain, and that’s the worst thing you can do in boxing.
Stock Dropping
“I mean, Ryan has to. I don’t know if there’s a rematch clause,” said Hearn. “Again, you’re not going to be screaming to see both guys anytime soon. They’ve got to out and put a performance together. It’s the entertainment business. You’re getting all that money. Everybody’s stock fell on Friday and Saturday. When you’re getting all that money and you know what you’re signing up for, you got to be a little bit mentally tougher than that.”
Garcia hasn’t uttered a peep about wanting the rematch with Rolly. He’s saying it’s up to the fans to decide whether he should fight Haney, Rolly, or someone else. He’s not really interested in fighting Rolly again. You can tell.
Not a Killer?
“The thing about Ryan and Devin is, they’re not killers. You got to have the mentality, but it was disappointing on that grand stage,” said Hearn.
It’s not just that they’re “Not killers.” Ryan and Haney aren’t true talents. Neither of them are good enough to fight the champions or even the top three contenders at 147 without losing. The way they both fought, even the weakest link among the champions at welterweight, Mario Barrios, would beat them.
Last Updated on 05/12/2025
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