Ryan Garcia stands by his criticism of what was otherwise hailed as Devin Haney’s best win to date.

The unbeaten 23-year-old contender immediately took to social medla in the midst of Haney (28-0, 15KOs) dominating Sydney’s George Kambosos Jr. (20-1, 10KOs) to win the undisputed lightweight championship on the road in Melbourne, Australia. Garcia repeatedly referred to the June 4 ESPN main event as boring and with both fighters lacking a sense of urgency.

Even with a month to reconsider such comments, Garcia shares the same view.

“I just think the way I grew up, we just always talk shit,” Garcia told krikya360.com of his comments towards Haney. “I don’t have no bad intention when I talk smack. When I look at [Haney-Kambosos] as a fellow athlete, I just say congratulations. Was it boring in my opinion? Yes. Could he have shown flashes of a killer instinct? Some people just don’t have it.

“He doesn’t have it. He will feel it when he’s in there with me and he knows what I’m talking about. He’s just not a good offensive fighter. You can be good offensively and not get hit. Floyd Mayweather used to run numbers on people and not get hit. He didn’t just move around. He had a killer instinct in him. Devin’s not like that. He just boxed his way to victory and I’m very proud of him.”

That comment more than anything else will strike a nerve with most fans, considering Garcia (22-0, 18KOs) was in position to challenge Haney for the WBC lightweight title last year. Golden Boy sought to take his career in a different direction, though ultimately going nowhere as Garcia sat out for the rest of the year due to a mental health break and an injured right wrist which required surgery.

Garcia returned to the ring earlier this year in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe this past April 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio, The unbeaten contender from Victorville, California attempted to carry the action though to no avail against a reluctant Tagoe, who threw away a 32-fight win streak in a negative performance where he immediately went into survival mode.

Next up for Garcia is a July 16 DAZN headliner with former secondary junior lightweight titlist Javier Fortuna at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. His hope after that is a potential superfight with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (27-0, 25KOs), while Haney sorts out a fight date for a contractually obligated rematch with Kambosos later this year.

“I don’t know how many people would be interested in [a Haney-Kambosos rematch],” Garcia notes. “That’s not my place to say. They can run the numbers, see who’s interested in it. If they can sell the fight again, that’s on them. Hopefully they get paid and put on a good showing.

“I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on Fortuna.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox