Devin Haney Vs. Ryan Garcia: Full Results
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia is in the books. The event took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and was broadcast live on DAZN PPV. The card featured some interesting matchups. So, let's recap the event and explore the full results.
In the main event, WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney attempted the first defense of his title against Ryan Garcia. The build-up to the fight was explosive as Haney and Garcia have been embroiled in a heated rivalry.
Garcia's title aspirations hit a major roadblock on the weigh-ins as he weighed 143.2 pounds, 3.2 pounds above the divisional limit. This meant that the title would remain vacant if Haney lost the fight. 'The Dream' decided to proceed with the fight after both teams reached a financial agreement.
The animosity was visible in the boxing ring too as both men put forth their best effort.
Garcia opened aggressively and had Haney hurt with a crushing left hook in Round 1. However, 'The Dream' showed championship mettle and maintained composure in the face of adversity.
It didn't take long for the momentum to shift as 'KingRy' started having trouble working around the champion's pressure.
As Haney's grip appeared to be getting tighter on the fight, Garcia made a strong comeback in Round 7, knocking him down and overwhelming 'The Dream' for the second half of the round.
Haney responded aggressively in the subsequent rounds but fell prey to Garcia's power shots in Rounds 10 and 11, getting dropped once in each stanza.
After 12 action-packed rounds, Garcia was declared the winner by majority decision, handing Haney the first loss of his professional boxing career.
Despite Garcia's win, Haney will remain the WBC super lightweight champion, as WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed.
In the co-main event, WBO Inter-Continental super lightweight champion Arnold Barboza Jr. fought WBO European super lightweight champion Sean McComb.
Ireland's McComb gave Barboza's aggressive style a lot of problems with effective footwork. Meanwhile, Barboza invested heavily in body shots against the taller opponent in the early going and started mixing things up as the fight progressed.
Barboza appeared to be the aggressor and chased down McComb, attempting to land power shots. In the end, Barboza had done enough to score a split-decision win. However, the audience's reaction suggested they were unhappy with the outcome.
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia main card: David Jimenez and Bektemir Melikuziev dominate title fights
The interim WBA super flyweight title was on the line as undefeated John Ramirez took on David Jimenez in a 12-round contest. Ramirez, who defeated Ronal Batista via Round 4 KO in his last outing, showed up on point and appeared to be physically stronger.
However, Jimenez brought the fight to him from the get-go and crowded the American with relentless attacks. Ramirez landed some good combinations of his own. However, 'Medallita' remained unfazed and maintained an aggressive posture throughout the fight.
Ramirez, who was cornered several times during the fight, was busted up by Round 12. Jimenez appeared to be the fresher fighter by the final bell and was declared the winner by unanimous decision. He is now the interim WBA super flyweight champion.
In another fierce battle, Uzbekistan's Bektemir Melikuziev defended the WBA Inter-Continental super middleweight title against Pierre Dibombe. The defending champion appeared to be in control of the fight from the opening bell.
However, an accidental headbutt opened a cut over Dibombe's eye in Round 1, adding a layer of difficulty for the Frenchman. Dibombe continued to fight and put forth a valiant effort. Melikuziev, who appeared to be getting ahead on the scorecards, also suffered a cut above the eye due to a headbutt, which got worse as the fight progressed.
After checking Melikuziev's eye, the ringside doctors stopped the fight. Based on the scores, Melikuziev was declared the winner by technical decision and retained the title.
The main card opening bout saw Charles Conwell defeat Nathaniel Gallimore via Round 6 TKO.
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia prelims: Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Amari Jones win big
The preliminary card produced astonishing results as three of the six fights ended in knockouts.
In the first fight of the event, rising prospect Shamar Canal, who trains under Devin Haney's father Bill Haney, conclusively defeated Pedro Borgaro via unanimous decision. He also scored the only knockdown of the fight in Round 3.
Another member of the Haney camp, Amari Jones knocked Armel Mumba-Yassa out after dominating the majority of the fight.
Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who lost to Jaime Munguia in one of the best fights of 2023, produced a flawless performance on the prelims as he defeated Vaughn Alexander via unanimous decision to get back in the win column.
Elsewhere, Kevin Newman II, Jonathan Canas, and Darius Fulghum scored impressive victories to further their quests to become top contenders.
Catch the full event results below:
Main Card
WBC super lightweight title fight - Ryan Garcia def. Devin Haney via majority decision (112-112, 115-109, 114-110)
Super lightweight - Arnold Barboza Jr. def. Sean McComb via split decision (96-94, 97-93, 92-98)
WBA Inter-Continental super middleweight title fight - Bektemir Melikuziev def. Pierre Dibombe via technical decision (79-73 X 2, 78-74)
Interim WBA super flyweight title fight - David Jimenez def. John Ramirez via unanimous decision (117-111 X 2, 116-112)
Super welterweight - Charles Conwell def. Nathaniel Gallimore via TKO (R6)
Preliminary Card
Super middleweight - Sergiy Derevyanchenko def. Vaughn Alexander via unanimous decision (100-89 X 3)
Super middleweight - Darius Fulghum def. Christin Olivas via TKO (R4)
Super lightweight - Jonathan Canas def. Angel Reyes via unanimous decision (40-36 X 3)
Middleweight - Amari Jones def. Armel Mbumba-Yassa via TKO (R6)
Super middleweight - Kevin Newman II def. Eric Robles via TKO (R4)
Lightweight - Shamar Canal def. Pedro Borgaro via unanimous decision (60-53 X 3)