Ryan Garcia believes he should have knocked out Devin Haney in their fight, blaming referee Harvey Dock for deducting a point from him for punching after a break was called, but admits he put too much pressure on himself to finish the fight.
Ryan Garcia reckons he should’ve KO’d Devin Haney, not just won by majority decision. He’s pointing fingers at referee Harvey Dock.
Garcia didn’t whine about the win. He did, however, admit that a knockout would’ve been the cherry on top. He started strong, landing a massive left hook in the first round that shook Haney.
Garcia dominated with three knockdowns, essentially securing his victory. The first knockdown? Seventh round. But Dock hit pause and deducted a point from Garcia for punching post-break. Garcia felt he should’ve been allowed to keep going until Haney was down for the count.
“Harvey Dock, man, he was tripping,” Garcia said after the match. “Should’ve stopped the fight. Haney was hurt bad. I felt for him. Even told Bill [Haney], ‘Bro, you should probably stop this.’ But he didn’t.”
Garcia felt Haney was clinging on for dear life. He saw an opening and took it, landing a punch while his hands were free. Dock deducted a point. Garcia was like, “He held me. I should’ve knocked him out in the seventh. They stole that from me.”
Garcia was baffled by the ref’s actions. “That was wild,” he said. “Never seen anything like it. He was holding him, I punched him, he was hurt. I was like, ‘Yes! Done! Oh, point taken?'”
Despite the penalty, Garcia kept the pressure on. He scored two more knockdowns in the 10th and 11th rounds, winning the fight.
Looking back, Garcia thinks he could’ve done better. His single-minded focus on putting Haney away may have cost him. “Is this the moment I stop him?” That was his thought after dropping Haney in the seventh. “I shouldn’t have put too much pressure on myself to stop him. Every time I hurt him, I just went crazy. I just couldn’t finish him.”
Garcia was taken aback by Haney’s resilience. “I cracked him in the first round, thought it was over. Easy work. Then he came out firing in the second. Even hurt me with a hook. I was like, damn, maybe he does have some power.”
Garcia entered the fight as a huge underdog. Some sportsbooks had Haney as an 8-to-1 favorite. But that’s not how it went down on Saturday.
After the fight, Garcia said he’d be up for a rematch. Haney, despite his first career loss, agreed.
But once things cooled down, Garcia admitted the toll of getting down to 140 pounds for the fight. He missed weight by 3.2 pounds, but the fight went on.
Now, Garcia isn’t considering another attempt at 140 pounds. He doubts Haney will bulk up enough for a rematch. The same goes for Gervonta Davis, who handed Garcia his only loss when he decided to drop to 136 pounds to face “Tank,” and got finished with a brutal body shot in the seventh round.
“I don’t think Tank’s going to beat Frank Martin, but if he did, he wouldn’t fight me because I’m moving up,” Garcia said. “I’m not doing 140. I’m going 147. I can’t make f****** 140. I never even technically fought at 140. I fought every time at 143. My body can’t literally go lower than 143. It’s impossible. I tried every technique. Can’t do it.”
Garcia’s got plans to move up in weight. He’s got a name in mind for a future opponent, but nothing’s set in stone.
“I had a vision to fight [Sebastian] Fundura at 154 [pounds],” Garcia said. “I don’t know why, I just feel I could knock him out. I know that’s really, really random. I just feel like I could get the title at 154.”
“I fought guys that big before and I’ve knocked them out in sparring. Cold, slept them. I want to do it. Shout out Fundura, no disrespect.”