In the aftermath of Ryan Garcia’s shocking three knockdowns of Devin Haney en route to a majority decision triumph Saturday night in New York, Garcia and his father, Henry, flashed the receipts.
Ryan Garcia recalled how Hall of Fame former two-division champion Timothy Bradley Jr. had said on ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters” that, based on what he’d seen from Garcia’s erratic preparation for the bout, he was picking Devin Haney to win, and if he was wrong, he might consider leaving the business of boxing commentary.
“Tim Bradley can s*ck my d*ick,” Garcia proclaimed in victory.
The elder Garcia called “Deep Waters” regular analysts Chris Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi “pieces of sh*t” for questioning his son’s preparedness for the bout.
And while Ryan Garcia did recklessly miss weight for the WBC 140-pound title fight by a whopping 3.2 pounds to ruin his chances of winning a first world title, he did overwhelm Haney by immediately rocking him twice in the first round and continuing to unleash his powerful left hand to post knockdowns in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds, claiming victory on the scorecards.
As fight fans, industry observers and likely the Garcias tuned in Monday, the responses from the “Deep Waters” panel were diverse.
Algieri brought Garcia his flowers.
“Ryan is the most physically talented guy, and he showed that,” Algieri said. “He didn’t have to be the most disciplined because he’s that talented for that moment.”
Algieri then reached under his desk and produced a specially designed cereal box of “new and improved Crow.”
“We’re going to be eating some crow on this show,” Algieri said.
Malignaggi took some bites and said, “Ryan, here’s to you, all right?”
Algieri sought to elaborate that “from everything that was being shown to us,” about Garcia’s wild social-media posts, his turbulent behavior and even his missed weight, he had sound reasons to back the -800 betting favorite Haney, a two-division and former undisputed lightweight champion.
But the outcome floored many who watched it.
“You won, bud, congratulations,” Algieri said. “We’re eating some crow.”
Bradley, meanwhile, was far less congratulatory after acknowledging, “With this victory, the future’s bright for [Garcia]. He’s on cloud No. 100. Everyone’s talking [about] Ryan Garcia and this performance.”
Bradley, who formerly made weight as a 140-pound and welterweight world champion by running through the scorching Coachella Valley desert heat in California, said Garcia balked at paying the ultimate price to become a world champion.
And because of that, “This victory, right here, I’ll give you credit for it, but with an asterisk next to it,” Bradley said.
Even bolder, Bradley said, “My man cheated. He set this up.”
Bradley’s far less conciliatory tone is hooked to his intimate knowledge of the diminishing effects of weight cuts.
“He needs to learn how to make weight and honor the contract and be a complete professional,” Bradley said. “I’m telling y’all right now, y’all can say it doesn’t matter … those three pounds matter. If the three pounds didn’t matter, why didn’t he make the weight?
“It’s because he was afraid of what those three pounds were going to take out of him. That’s the reason why he was willing to give up the $1.5 million to Haney.”
Bradley said Haney was left in a no-win situation because of Garcia’s gamesmanship. Haney could have opted not to take the fight when Garcia weighed in heavy.
“Everyone would’ve been talking about Haney, ‘Why didn’t you take the fight?’ ‘You’re scared of Ryan Garcia.’ ‘It’s only three pounds … .’ Yada, yada, yada,” Bradley said.
“Those three pounds take so much out of you. If both these guys were at 140, it could’ve been a different result. The reason I’m saying that is because those last three pounds take your soul, it drains you.
Ryan himself said, ‘Why would I even try to make 140?’ Why?”
Bradley thought back to his own days doing so. He did it for the glory of being a world champion.
“I would just kill myself to make it,” he said.
To Garcia, he scolded, “You signed a contract to make [140], and you knew all along that you weren’t going to make the weight.
“So then you step into the ring against someone who actually made the weight. You have an advantage. It was a tough [cut] for Devin Haney, and that came back and bit him in the behind.
“The reason why you didn’t want to make the weight was because you didn’t want to weaken your resolve, Ryan, and you knew that Haney would come in a little bit weaker, [that Haney] always struggles to make [weight]. “Now you have this advantage and every time you touched him, you were wobbling him. Because you had full strength all the way through the fight.
“It’s an asterisk next to this victory.”
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