In a stunning upset, Ryan Garcia scored an action-packed 12-round majority decision over WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The official scores were 115-109, 114-110 and 112-112. Garcia did not win the title because he failed to make the 140-pound limit.
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) floored Haney in the seventh, tenth and eleventh rounds and came close to scoring a stoppage on multiple occasions. There were moments when the young Californian adopted the unusual defensive posture of turning his back, which gave Haney precious seconds to recover. Regardless, Garcia got over the line and kicked sand in the faces of all those who doubted him.
“You guys overrate everything,” said a hyped-up Garcia during his interview with DAZN. “You guys hate on me because I’m pretty and sh__. Man, that’s f__cked up. At the end of the day, I’ve been boxing my whole life. All I want to do is love God and help the children. You guys don’t want to know the truth.”
“I knew I had control after [the first knockdown]. It’s hard to recover from big shots. Maybe my conditioning wasn’t the best, but, at the end of the day, I got the job done. [I did the shoulder roll because] I have ADHD and I just start doing random things.”
The warning signs were out for Haney early in round one. An electric left hook counter nailed the champ near the temple and his legs buckled. Garcia followed up recklessly, but he’d immediately made an impression with his power and timing.
Despite the scare, Haney found his rhythm in the early rounds. He scored well with the jab and hurt his man with a sharp left hook in the third. Undeterred, Garcia yelled at his rival in defiance and bashed his gloves together, asking for more.
MORE: Ryan Garcia's history of disturbing tweets
The fight changed completely in round seven when Garcia floored Haney with his signature left hook. The punch was an absolute rocket and it’s a miracle that Haney found his feet. When the action continued, Garcia looked for the finish, but he hit Haney on the break and was deducted a point for the infringement. Even more importantly, the extra time allowed Haney to recuperate.
Garcia was quiet in the eighth and went on the back foot, which seemed the wrong tactical choice. However, the underdog exploded again in the ninth, nailing Haney with a big combination late in the round. And he was only getting started.
In round ten, a huge left hook sent Haney sprawling to the canvas for a second time. Gamely, the champion rose, but his mouth was bloody and his eyes were gone. Another brutal left hook caught “The Dream” and he reeled backwards into the ropes. Again, it was simply incredible that he lasted out the round.
Haney could not configure his defenses to thwart Garcia’s left hook. The same punch crashed home for a third knockdown in the eleventh and a stoppage win looked inevitable. Somehow Haney got through it, but he didn’t have enough time or ammunition to get his long-time rival out in the final round.
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” said Haney. “I proved I’m a true champion. I fought back after I was hurt. He caught me early, caught me by surprise."
“I want a rematch. I gave him a shot. It’s only right that he gives me a shot back.”
Following a buildup that everyone in boxing will want to forget, Haney and Garcia produced a fight that everyone will remember.
The Sporting News provided live coverage and unofficial scoring for the main event.
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia live fight updates, results, highlights
RYAN GARCIA PULLS OFF THE SHOCKER... WINS 12-ROUND MAJORITY DECISION. The official scores are 115-109, 114-110, 112-112
Round 12: Haney's reflexes dimmed. He's desperate to find something fight-ending, but his work lacks accuracy. Garcia taunts Haney throughout the last 30 seconds. Looks like we have a colossal upset.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Garcia (114-112 Garcia)
Round 11: Haney's mouth bloody. Garcia telling Haney's corner to stop the fight. The champ is glassy-eyed. Haney down AGAIN from another HUGE LEFT HOOK. How is Devin Haney still in this fight?
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-8 Garcia (104-103 Garcia)
Round 10: HANEY DOWN AGAIN from a combination. Garcia turning his back seconds after Haney rises. Insane scenes. HUGE LEFT HOOK rocks Haney's world again. Garcia adopts shoulder roll and turns his back AGAIN.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-8 Garcia (95-94 Haney)
Round 9: Garcia back on the retreat. Big left hand by Haney. Lots of clinching and the action is getting untidy. Huge right uppercut almost catches Haney clean. Garcia opens up with a two-fisted attack to win the round.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Garcia (87-84 Haney)
Round 8: Haney's legs still look rubbery, but he's over the worst of it. GREAT FIGHT THAT IS LOADED WITH DRAMA! Garcia turned his back again and not really doing anything offensively.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (78-74 Haney)
Round 7: HUGE LEFT KNOCKDOWN FROM GARCIA. Haney is hurt BAD! Garcia hits on the break on the follow-up and is deducted a point. Haney down twice more but no knockdowns counted. Haney was perilously close to losing.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 9-8 Garcia (68-65 Haney)
Round 6: Big attack from Garcia; body and head. Garcia's best attack since round one. Haney smiles, but those shots were heavy. Jab from Haney. Garcia turns his back and Haney is unfairly warned for striking the back of the mid-section. Garcia goes on the backfoot without throwing a punch for almost a minute.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (59-55 Haney)
Round 5: Big left hook to the body by Haney. Garcia constantly missing when he's coming forward and is made to pay via right-hand counter punch. Haney feints throwing off Garcia's left hook counter now. Hard rights to the body from Haney on the inside. Garcia looks like he's losing his way.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (49-46 Haney)
Round 4: Great right by Haney early in the round. The Californian's timing is really on the front foot, but he remains lethal on the counter. Jab by Haney, right-hand return by Garcia. Garcia begins to box off the backfoot like he did against Oscar Duarte. Not effective.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (39-37 Haney)
Round 3: The right again by Haney. Garcia beginning to telegraph the left hook and the champ is reading it. Garcia is sloppy coming forward. Haney SHAKES Garcia with a big left hook.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (29-28 Haney)
Round 2: Haney whips in the right for the first time. Plenty of outside fencing. Another right cross by Haney. He's not landing flush but the champ is getting a foothold. Garcia constantly loading up on the left hook counter and he isn't missing by much. Round to Haney.
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Haney (19-19)
Round 1: Haney stunned by a left hook in the opening seconds. Legs wobbly! SENSATIONAL START by Garcia. He opens up but Haney survives the assault. Incredible!
SN Unofficial Scoring: 10-9 Garcia
We now switch to round-by-round scoring for the main event. It's TIME!
No surprise as McComb gets ripped off on the cards. Barboza takes a split decision and should thank his lucky stars. Two judges awarded him 97-93 and 96-94 tallies. The one official who watched the fight had it 98-92 for McComb.
11.43 p.m. ET: McComb picks up a cut in the final round, but he boxed well enough over the three minutes and should win this fight. Being the visitor, he might not benefit from the judging.
11.40 p.m. ET: We're heading into the tenth and final round. Barboza has been very disappointing, and if scores are anywhere near accurate at ringside, then all McComb has to do is stay on his feet and he wins. He's been the more effective fighter throughout.
11.28 p.m. ET: Barboza is very one-paced through six rounds. McComb controls distance with his feet and punches at the correct times to offset the heavily favored Californian. We're heading towards a BIG upset if this keeps up.
11.13 p.m. ET: McComb is known as "The Public Nuisance" and as round two ends, his punches are nuisance value. The Belfast southpaw only has five knockouts in 19 fights, so Barboza confidently walks into range and lets his hands go. However, despite having nothing on the visitor's punches, he is scoring well.
11.00 p.m. ET: The final undercard fight sees world-class super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr. take on Sean McComb. Barboza would have stepped in to contest the WBC championship if Garcia had pulled out of the Haney fight. He now needs to focus on taking out McComb to stay on track for a title opportunity.
Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOS) wins by eighth-round technical decision. The official scores are 79-73, 79-73 78-74. Dibombe suffers his first pro defeat, falling to 22-1-1 (12 KOs).
10:34 p.m. ET: The fight is stopped due to Melikuziev's HORRIFIC cut at the beginning of round eight. We go to the scorecard for what will be a technical decision. Dibombe has been game throughout and landed some good shots, but he's surely behind on points.
10:34 p.m. ET: It's an eventful round five. The southpaw versus orthodox matchup leads to another head clash and this time Bek the Bully is injured (left eye). It's WORSE than Dibombe's cut. KNOCKDOWN scored by Melikuziev. Dibombe complains that the feet were tangled. The French fighter hurt again late in the round.
10:21 p.m. ET: The referee inspects Dibombe's cut late in round two and lets the action continue. The Frenchman is boxing well against his southpaw opponent despite the blood flowing into his eye.
10:17 p.m. ET: Dibombe is cut by an unintentional head clash late in the opening round. The wound is directly above the left eye and it's very bad.
10:11 p.m. ET: The next fight is Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Pierre Dibombe. Both fighters are in the ring and will contest 10 rounds or less at super middleweight.
AND THE NEW interim WBA super flyweight champion... DAVID JIMINEZ. The visitor wins a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 117-111, 117-111, 116-112. He improves to 16-1 (11 KOs). Ramirez loses for the first time in 14 fights.
9:52 p.m. ET: Jiminez produces his best round of the fight in the twelfth. Uppercuts are scoring continually throughout the round. A clash of heads opens a bad cut around Ramirez's right eye. The fight ends and both men embrace. This should be a win for Jiminez.
9:44 p.m. ET: As we enter the championship rounds, Jiminez's work rate has been giving Ramirez a ton of trouble in the second half. It looks like the visitor is pulling away on the scoring, but he would be wise to keep up the pressure given that he's away from home.
9:37 p.m. ET: We cut to Ryan Garcia's dressing room as he begins his warm-up. If you can believe it, the enigmatic Californian has a group of violinists playing classical music as he moves around throwing punches.
9:35 p.m. ET: We're eight rounds in and the fierce exchanges continue. Scrappy Ramirez is bleeding heavily from the mouth, but he's still boxing very well on the outside. Jiminez is going through the gears and working much harder, which could catch the eye of the judges.
9:20 p.m. ET: It's a close fight through four rounds. Jiminez is more aggressive and he's throwing more punches. The Costa Rican star is also starting to make a home for the uppercut. Ramirez is producing the more eye-catching work and he's accurate. The scoring will be down to what you prefer.
9:05 p.m. ET: Ramirez, known as "Scrappy", goes down in the first three seconds of round one. It is ruled no-knockdown.
9:00 p.m. ET: Next up is Johnny Ramirez vs. Davis Jimenez for the interim WBA super flyweight title. There's been plenty of hostility in the buildup to this one and many believe it could be fight of the night.
A sustained two-fisted assault from Conwell forces referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to stop the fight in round six. While Gallimore didn't get dropped, he wasn't firing back and the stoppage was just. The official time is 0:52. Conwell completes a successful Golden Boy Promotions debut and improves to 19-0 (14 KOs).
8:36 p.m. ET: The doctor has a look at Gallimore before the start of round four. The Jamaica-born American is cut and absorbing a shellacking. Conwell continues to score with bombs. It's uppercut city right now.
8:31 p.m. ET: We're two rounds in and Conwell looks leagues above. He's switching from head to body beautifully and backing up his man with crisp blows. Gallimore is showing a very good chin.
8:22 p.m. ET: The first pay-per-view bout of the evening is Charles Conwell vs. Nathaniel Gallimore at super welterweight. Conwell (18-0, 13 KOs) has been out of the ring for 17 months and is looking for a statement performance against an experienced veteran. Both fighters are in the ring and we're ready to go.
Good evening and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia card from Brooklyn, New York.
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia fight card
- Ryan Garcia def. Devin Haney via MD 12 (115-109, 114-110, 112-112) for the WBC super lightweight title
- Arnold Barboza def. Sean McComb via SD 10 (97-93, 96-94, 92-98); Super Lightweights
- Bektemir Melikuziev def. Pierre Dibombe via TD 8 (79-73, 79-73, 78-74); Super Middleweights
- David Jimenez def. Johnny Ramirez via UD 12 (117-111, 117-111, 116-112) for the interim WBA super flyweight title
- Charles Conwell def. Nathaniel Gallimore via TKO 6 (0.52); Super Welterweights
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