By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/devin-haney-vs-ryan-garcia-betting-odds-and-prediction/23268/
Unbeaten WBC Junior Welterweight Devin Haney of San Francisco, California puts his belt on the kine against Ryan Garcia of Victorville, California this Saturday, April 20th. The 12-rounder from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York can be seen on DAZN pay-per-view in most nations. Haney, the former IBF, WBA Super World, WBO, WBC ‘Franchise,’ and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Beltholder won the WBC Junior Welterweight Title last December when he dominated Regis Prograis over 12 rounds. Garcia last saw action in December as well when he stopped Oscar Duarte in the eighth round.
Haney is just 25 years old and has evolved from being a can’t-miss prospect to a multi-weight world champion following his excellent 138-bout amateur career after getting into the sport as a seven-year-old. He won a silver medal at the USA Junior National Championships in 2013 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Juniors the same year. He then won a gold medal at the 2014 US Junior National Championships and the 2015 USA Youth National Championships.
He was the youngest boxer ever to win the Youth World Championships and captured a total of seven national titles along the way. Haney, who was born in San Francisco and fights out of Las Vegas, then turned pro in December of 2015 as a 16-year-old and has a perfect record of 31-0 as a pro with 15 Ko’s and has 210 rounds of experience under his belt. He won the WBC Interim World Lightweight Title in 2019 by stopping Zaur Abdullaev and the full title in his next fight with a unanimous decision over Alfredo Santiago.
Haney defended the title by unanimous decision against Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz before beating George Kambosos twice in a row by unanimous decision in Australia to win the rest of the lightweight belts. He fought once more as a lightweight against Vasyl Lomachenko and beat him by a controversial unanimous decision before heading north in weight to take on Prograis. Haney has also won several regional and minor titles along the way including the WBC Youth World, USBA, IBF North American, WBC International, and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Belts. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 71-inch.
Haney possesses tremendous skills and speed with average power with a current knockout ratio of 48.4 per cent and has gone the distance in his past eight fights with his last stoppage coming in September, 2019 when he halted Abdullaev after four rounds. His first four pro bouts took place in Mexico since he was too young to box professionally in America at the time. He’s beaten everybody in front of him so far with his toughest opponents being Prograis, Lomachenko, Kambosos, Diaz Jr., Linares, Gamboa, Santiago, Antonio Moran, Mason Menard, Juan Carlos Burgos and Xolisani Ndongeni.
Garcia is also 25 years old and owns a fine mark of 24-1 with 20 Ko’s with 83.3 per cent of his wins coming by stoppage, including seven of his last eight. He measures just under 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70-inch reach and also possesses tremendous speed and fine boxing skills. He made his pro debut in 2016 and has boxed 100 rounds since. Along the way, he’s captured the vacant NABF Junior Super Featherweight Title, the NABF, and WBO NABO Super Featherweight Crowns as well as the WBO NABO and WBC Silver Lightweight Titles and got up from the canvas in the second round against Luke Campbell in 2021 to stop him in the seventh round for the Interim WBC Lightweight Belt.
Garcia’s lone defeat was a seventh-round KO at the hands of Gervonta Davis last April. He also has wins over Jayson Velez, Javier Fortuna, Carlos Morales, Jose Lopez, Braulio Rodriguez, Fernando Vargas Parra and Noe Martinez Raygoza. Garcia’s being groomed to be a world champion by promoter Oscar De La Hoya and appears to have all the tools necessary to succeed and was named the 2017 prospect of the year by ESPN. However, world title has eluded him so far.
He also enjoyed a fine amateur career by reportedly going 215-15. Garcia won a silver medal at the USA Junior National (Under-17) Championships in 2014 when he lost to Haney in the final. He also reached the quarterfinals at the USA Youth National (Under-19) Championships in 2015 and lost to Haney once again. However, he did beat Vergil Ortiz in his opening bout. He then won gold at the USA Youth National (Under-19) Championships in 2016.
Prediction…
Both men are world-class boxers with plenty of skills but Garcia has a decided edge in power. It didn’t help him when he met Haney in the amateurs though and the same could be true this weekend. Haney, on the other hand, relies more on his skills to get by but still has enough power to stop Garcia, especially after re-hydrating before the fight and possibly entering the ring as heavy as 160 or more pounds. Garcia wants to avenge his amateur losses to Haney and is highly motivated but he really needs to stop him to win. Haney has the edge if the fight goes the distance and also has the power to win by stoppage. I just think Haney is the better boxer overall and will retain his belt Saturday night.
