PREDICTIONS: Is Ryan Garcia ready for Devin Haney?

Will it be Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia on Saturday?

Devin Haney will face Ryan Garcia in a big DAZN PPV main event Saturday from Brooklyn, wrapping the story on one of the strangest pre-fight builds in memory.

Haney is defending his WBC 140 lb championship against Garcia, whose pre-fight antics have a lot of people wondering if he’s really focused on the fight, or if this has all been bizarre mind games.

Can Garcia pull off the win and hand Haney his first loss, or will Haney give Ryan a second pro defeat?

Scott Christ (13-1)

Just can’t pick Ryan Garcia here. Even if the whole build has been “trolling,” that’s a lot of energy spent on everything that isn’t his boxing training, and he needs to be better, by a good bit, than he’s ever been to win this fight.

Let’s say it’s the best Garcia vs the best Haney. Then Ryan’s chance boils down to his power, because he’s just not as good a boxer as Haney, not as well-rounded. Haney fights smarter, more confidently, with less reacting to his opponent. Garcia’s not a bad fighter, mind you, he has some skills and he has some terrific natural gifts that he hasn’t gotten the most of, but Haney at his best is an elite tier boxer in the game today. Ryan has never been that guy, however you want to break down the “why” of it.

If it’s the best Haney vs a Garcia who isn’t on top form, Haney will dominate. Devin has been hurt in fights before, but he’s also tried to adjust to those mistakes, though they were relatively minor. He got an arguably fortunate decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko, but Garcia fights nothing like Lomachenko and even at his best that’d be true, he’s not going to test Haney’s skill set the way Loma could.

There’s no other pick here. Haney either stops him or wins a wide and clear decision. The only thing that can trip Devin up right now is if he fights too emotionally, which is really never been a problem for him and I just don’t think Ryan Garcia’s attempts to rile him up will stick once the bell rings. He’s just going to do what he always does, and that’s box, because that’s what his focus in life is about. Haney TKO-11

Wil Esco (11-3)

So I’ve been on this “Helldivers 2” binge as of late and putting in hours grinding out rare and super samples to fully upgrade my warship (which I had just recently achieved until this latest update). Fine, more work to do. I matchmake into one of the long, 40-minute missions on suicide difficulty and artfully work my way through the entire map collecting a 31 samples myself, chopping down Bile Titans and blasting Chargers, and avoiding an army of those obnoxious Stalkers along the way. I’m a G like that.

Finally, after investing the full 40 minutes in farming samples and taking no deaths, I get to the extraction zone where we set up defenses, anticipating the onslaught of enemies that will eventually swarm (you know, exactly how the mechanic of the game is designed). It gets a little hectic but hardly anything unusual for the difficulty level and just as the extraction shuttle is landing, instead of just jumping on the ship and being done with the mission, one of the rando-idiots panics and calls in a cluster bomb airstrike on the LZ — ON THE ENTIRE LZ WHERE WE’RE ALL STANDING! Wipes the entire squad, including himself, and costs me a precious 30-sample run, 40 minutes of my life, and an agonizing frustration that still haunts me.

This is as relevant as anything Ryan Garcia has said in the last few months. Haney TKO-10

John Hansen (11-3)

If you watch boxing for a year, you’ll see something horrifying. People die in this sport, and not infrequently. Aidos Yerbossynuly wound up in a coma. Tank Davis goes to jail for domestic violence, then walks out and fights for a multi-million dollar payday a week and a half later. A judge openly contemptuous of black people turns in an egregious scorecard against a black fighter, and conveniently in favor of his opponent, who just happens to be a friend and countryman of her husband’s boss.

Over and above all of that, I think Ryan Garcia being sent out to fight on Saturday is the ugliest thing to happen in my time covering the sport.

Something is clearly wrong with this young man. There’s plenty of evidence that boxing may be witnessing a Kanye West or Britney Spears situation. Musicians don’t get brain damage or die when they miss a note. But healthy, focused, fully-prepared combat sports athletes fighting at the peak of their ability can and do suffer life-ruining outcomes. And Garcia is not focused or fully prepared. He’s getting “high as f—” during his prep time for this fight, and showing up at fight events seemingly intoxicated. But there are millions of dollars to be made, so friends, family, promoters, management, broadcasters, and anyone else with room in their pockets are all going to just look away from whatever chaotic affliction is plaguing this man.

Garcia has the faster hands and the heavier punches, and in a different situation they could carry him past Devin Haney. But how can anyone assume Garcia is in a place to make use of those advantages right now? Haney is the only reasonable prediction, and I’ll go with the decision because all I really want to see is both men walk out of the arena with minimal long term damage. Haney UD-12

Patrick Stumberg (12-2)

Just as a thought experiment, let’s give Ryan Garcia every benefit of the doubt. Let’s assume that briefly transforming into a side character from The Righteous Gemstones was a high-level psychological ploy and he is, in fact, at the peak of his powers.

What has he done in the ring to suggest that peak is anywhere close to Haney’s? Looking mortal against Gervonta Davis is plenty forgivable; a goon he may be, but “Tank” is a terrific fighter. There’s no excuse for that performance against Duarte. Garcia’s management hand-picked a lightweight with the most favorable style imaginable and he still seemed markedly worse than when he stopped Luke Campbell.

Pure speed and power aren’t going to get him past Haney’s jab or let him deal with Haney’s clinch game, especially since both of those feats require a level of mental fortitude that Garcia simply does not have. Garcia needs Haney to be off his game to have any chance of winning, but I can’t imagine him rattling someone who kept his cool against a fully dialed-in Lomachenko. Haney takes him to school, potentially scoring a late stoppage if Garcia implodes under the stress of being powerless to turn things out. Haney UD-12