"Proved the haters wrong" - Nina-Marie Daniele brings up referee as she reacts to Ryan Garcia's stunning win over Devin Haney
Nina-Marie Daniele has popped up on one of Ryan Garcia's latest Instagram posts celebrating his jaw-dropping win over Devin Haney. The social media influencer-turned-combat sports content creator took to Garcia's comment section to praise him for his efforts against Haney.
However, Daniele didn't just commend Garcia for beating Haney, as she also echoed a sentiment that many fans and even other fighters have expressed online about the referee. She opined that the referee interfered far too much in the bout and implied that he favored Haney.
Many criticized the referee's conduct in the Garcia-Haney fight, with some even accusing the official of having a stake in the bout's potential victor. Daniele felt the same.
"You fought Haney and the Ref tonight... and beat them BOTH! LFG!!!! Proved the haters wrong!"
Fortunately, the referee's interference with the match did not ultimately impact the result. While a controversial point deduction for a punch off the break could've negatively influenced the scorecards, including the referee's decision to ignore a third Garcia knockdown, 'KingRy' still emerged victorious via majority decision.
In doing so, Garcia became responsible for handing Haney his first-ever loss in professional boxing. However, due to his failure to make weight, as he was three pounds over the super welterweight limit when he stepped on the scale, Garcia was not eligible to win the WBC super welterweight title.
So while he won the bout, he is not the new WBC super welterweight champion, nor has Haney been stripped of the belt and the title rendered vacant, much to online disapproval.
Nina-Marie Daniele is a fan of Ryan Garcia
Not only did she pop up in the comment section of Ryan Garcia's Instagram post to voice her support, but Nina-Marie Daniele also posted a short clip of herself on X/Twitter, where she urged Garcia to victory before the former sealed his win.
"Let's go, Ryan! Oh, you're so freaking close, let's go!"
Check out Nina-Marie Daniele voicing her support for Ryan Garcia:
In the end, Garcia won after scoring several knockdowns and rocking Haney more than once, earning him one of the biggest combat sports upsets of the year.