ryan garcia feel undervalued in the fight against Devin Haney.
Garcia will face Haney, a two-division world champion who currently holds the WBC junior welterweight title, on Saturday, April 20th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Even though Haney, 31-0 (15 KOs), is a pound-for-pound fighter, Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), had harsh comments about him before the fight.
Garcia spoke during a media training session in Texas last week and took time to answer questions, but one of the more provocative questions arose from his assessment of rival Haney's boxing ability. Ta. Haney is considered one of the most intelligent fighters of his era.
“I think people are overestimating him.” [Devin Haney] In my opinion, it’s boxing ability,” Garcia said.
But Garcia doesn't feel the same love for his boxing talent. Garcia was a U.S. champion as an amateur. He went 3-3 with Haney as an amateur, but people often talk about his speed and power, not his boxing ability or intelligence in the ring.
“I'm underrated,” Garcia said when asked if he thought people underestimated what he brought to this fight. “They hate me because I won't shut up **** and keep talking, but I'm going to keep doing it no matter what. At the end of the day, they just hate me It is.”
One reason Garcia is underrated is his clumsy defensive moves. He can pull straight back, but this is a big no-no because he will hit clean with power shots from his opponent's dominant hand. In his last match against Oscar Duarte, Garcia used a strange looking “shoulder roll” and was ridiculed. Garcia is very good at what he does, has good timing and can fight for a long time, but there's no doubt he hasn't put together a full performance yet as a pro.
His best performance was stopping Luke Campbell and getting off the canvas. It wasn't the dominant performance Haney had against Regis Prograis, for example.
Another glaring hole in Garcia's resume is that he has never won a world title.
“I was one of the best amateurs,” Garcia further said. “I lost a fight against a guy who is probably one of the best players in the world.” [Gervonta Davis] – and he needed to lose weight and needed to lose weight [in] Hydration clause. ”
Garcia was stopped by Davis in the seventh round, and the contest generated more than 1 million pay-per-view buys, but Garcia had to agree to a make-up clause.
Now, Garcia will have his second match on pay-per-view. This time he will be facing Haney, who is not known for his power. Can Garcia bounce back from his past losses as a pro and build on his past success as an amateur?
Garcia is an underdog, but he seems to think he can do it.
