Devin Haney Preparing for Ryan Garcia and Arnold Barboza Jr.!
As was announced to the public, WBC junior lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) will face “King Ry” Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) on April 20. While that showdown is the plan however, from the very beginning there has been a contingency plan in place. In this instance, that contingency plan comes in the form of #1 (WBO), #5 (WBC) and #8 (IBF) ranked 140-pounder Arnold Barboza Jr. (29-0, 11 KO’s).
Throughout the relatively brief build-up for their April 20 showdown in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Garcia has remained a constant river of erratic posts, twitchy mannerisms and inflammatory conspiracy theories. His behavior has been so off putting, even members of his own family and entourage have suggested that he withdraw from the fight or at least seek some professional help.
WILL PLAN B BE NECESSARY?
To provide further apprehension, King Ry has already pulled out of a previous prizefight citing mental health disturbances as his rationale. Clearly this chain of events has not been lost on Garcia’s Golden Boy Promotions backers. This is evidenced by Barboza Jr. being oddly injected into the first official presser for this match. In a brief Q&A with Fight Hype, Haney spoke more on the matter.
“Earlier, I was focused on if Ryan was going to show up, but I changed my focus to focusing on me and controlling me and preparing the best way that I know how to prepare to be the best Devin Haney on the night. So, if Ryan Garcia isn’t ready for the fight, then any guy that steps in, I’m going to be ready for it. Which we already know that Oscar [De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions] has it set up for [Arnold] Barboza [Jr], if Ryan can’t show up.”
THE WAITING GAME
For his part, Barboza Jr. is ready to go and eager for the challenge. He has already slid in the ring once this year, on January 6, to defeat Xolisani Ndongeni by way of eighth-round stoppage. It goes without saying that the determined Californian is itching to secure the Haney match and denude him of his WBC title. Obviously, a win over Haney would drastically improve Barboza’s professional reality and drawing power at the negotiation table.
While that would be great for Barboza Jr., sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen is not beneficial for any of the participants. It leaves Junior in an odd holding pattern and Haney essentially training for two notably different opponents. In the end though, this is the kind of zany, unorthodox situation that boxing is good for cooking up. So, in the meantime, Haney, Barboza Jr and the boxing world will wait with baited breath to see what Ryan Garcia does or doesn’t do!
