The New York Athletic Commission has banned up-and-coming boxer Ryan Garcia from boxing for one year, forfeited $1.1 million in guaranteed prize money, and declared his April 20 bout with Devin Haney a no contest.
Haney's undefeated record was back to 31-0 after a no contest requested by him and his father, Bill Haney, made it seem as if the fight never happened, but fans will always remember it as the fight Haney lost.
“I really hope boxing thrives without me,” Ryan Garcia said on X about his one-year ban from the boxing world. “They turned their back on me.”
Devin Haney's reaction and hiatus
Now that Haney's unbeaten record is restored, he has announced that he will be taking a year off from boxing, saying, “I will be back in a year. I already have all the belts. From now on, I will not be fighting in weight classes, but at the weight I choose.”
Haney is thought to be taking a year off to avoid losing, and upon his return he could land a big-money rematch with Ryan Garcia.
This is Haney's biggest financial battle, and he can't afford to jeopardize it by staying on next year while Ryan is suspended.
Haney will lose his WBC light welterweight title because he opted to take a year off, but he was unwilling to agree to the low pay of $1.5 million for his mandatory title fight against Sandor Martin in the fall.
It was a big pay cut for Haney for a risky fight and could have jeopardized his chances of a rematch with Ryan.
The New York Commission artificially restored Haney's record to unbeaten, but it did not change fans' memories of him being knocked down multiple times in the seventh round, and then again in the eighth and eleventh rounds.
You have never experienced what I have experienced.
I am innocent
You don't know what I feel
I've been fighting since I was 7, someone cheated on me :(((((
— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarcia) June 20, 2024
