Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia Preview & Picks – Haney To Retain World Title Via Decision

Devin Haney is tipped to retain his world title via decision.

Haney is the more skilled boxer and has superior fight IQ, which allows him to read his opponent.

He also has a reach advantage that will allow him to outbox Ryan Garcia at range over 12 rounds.

Devin Haney is the WBC super-lightweight world champion and former undisputed lightweight champion with a record of 31-0 (15 KOs).

Haney became a world champion for the first time in September 2019 when he stopped Zaur Abullaev in four rounds to win the vacant WBC interim lightweight title.

He was upgraded to full championship status after that and made successful defences against Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz Jr, winning all three fight by unanimous decision.

‘The Dream’ then entered ‘enemy territory’ twice in 2022 to cement his status as the number one lightweight on the planet.

Haney beat George Kambosos Jr via unanimous decision in Australia to leave with the WBC, WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine titles.

The 25-year-old American then went back ‘Down Under’ for his first defence of the undisputed crown, and it was another successful outing as he again beat Kambosos Jr by unanimous decision.

He made one more successful defence of the titles last May, beating Vasyl Lomachenko on points, before moving up to super-lightweight last December.

Haney made a successful debut in his new weight class, beating Regis Prograis on points to win the WBC world title.

Ryan Garcia is a former interim lightweight world champion with a professional record of 24-1 (20 KOs).

Garcia compiled a 20-0 record and claimed a bunch of minor titles before finally fighting for one of the sport’s biggest prizes in January 2021.

He took his big chance that night, stopping former Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell in the seventh round to win the interim WBC lightweight title.

However, ‘The Flash’ failed to make a successful defence of the belt, pulling out of a couple of scheduled fights later that year.

Garcia was ultimately stripped of the interim title, but put that disappointment behind him in 2022 as he won back-to-back fights.

He beat Emmanuel Tagoe via unanimous decision and then knocked out Javier Fortuna in the sixth round to take his professional record to a perfect 23-0.

The 25-year-old American was unable to make it to 24-0 though, as he was knocked out in the seventh round by Gervonta Davis last April.

Garcia quickly bounced back from his first career defeat though, stopping Oscar Duarte in the eighth round last December.