Devin Haney is Happy Pressure Getting to Team Garcia!
For quite some time, WBC world lightweight champion in recess Devin “The Dream” Haney (24-0, 15 KO’s) has been rather frustrated. Despite being a phenomenal talent, and successful promoter, he felt he was not receiving the proper attention from the other top fighters in his division.
Whenever his fellow top dogs got to name dropping desirable next foes, his name was consistently suspiciously absent. This redundant scenario left the Dream feeling like the boogeyman that no one wanted to mention. Thankfully for Devin Haney, and his supporting cast, the maddening trend appears to be fading.
HANEY V GARCIA ANYONE?
The other fighters have been mentioning his name a bit more in part because Haney has begun forcing their hands a bit. As was the case when the Dream hopped in the ring to go nose to nose with Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (20-0, 17 KO’s). Just moments earlier, Garcia flat-lined Francisco Fonseca with a highlight reel left-hook and was conducting his post-fight interview when Haney came seeking a fight.
The in-ring confrontation has garnered a great deal of on-line attention and chatter. There was an additional heated moment backstage when Haney and his father and chief second, Bill Haney, caught up with Golden Boy Promotion big-shot Bernard Hopkins. The back-to-back woofing sessions have had social media buzzing since they transpired.
And in Devin Haney’s mind, as he shared with Fight Hype, this is all a very good thing:
“Yeah, I am happy that Oscar is starting to speak about it and the fans and the reporters are making Ryan Garcia speak about it because it seemed like he was scared to say it. He would say Tank Davis even though he knows that fight is not realistic, or it’s not going to happen anytime soon.
“So, I’m happy that the people are putting the pressure on him so that he can’t duck me anymore.”
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Obviously, Haney and Garcia are in the hurt business. So if they meet, it will be to bludgeon one another into submission. However, this does not mean that there is a lack of respect. In fact, it’s precisely his respect for KingRy as a fighter that spurs Haney on to pursue a showdown with Garcia so vigorously. It’s a respect that has been borne out of a long and lush backstory shared between the two.
“Me and Ryan, we always been cool. We never had a bad relationship. It’s never been any bad blood with us. You know I got a lot of respect for him. I like what he’s doing. He’s made himself into a star and you got to respect that.”
Even though Haney is pushing hard for Garcia at the moment, this doesn’t mean that he’s turning a blind eye to the rest of the division. With his promoter hat on, the Dream recognizes that there are a number of other top-notch match-ups that can be made for him. Let’s just hope that we as the fans get one of the juicy bouts next!
“There are a lot of big fights. Alot of big fights. Adrien Broner, the world has saw that. Loma is still a big fight. Teofimo [Lopez] is still a big fight. The 135lbs division is heating up and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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