Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia fought six times in the amateurs and split the series.
The 25 year olds declared a dance was inevitable in the pros, and they stayed true to their promise by agreeing to fight April 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
But before the deal was official, a back and forth dance by Garcia made it seem as if he was not entirely interested in the bout.
After knocking out Oscar Duarte on Dec. 2, Garcia called for a clash against Rolando Romero. A week later, Haney dominated Regis Prograis to secure the WBC super lightweight title, and Garcia instructed his team to secure a fight with Haney.
After a publicized meeting with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Garcia switched his stance again and wanted to fight Romero instead. But Romero opted to face Isaac Cruz, a fight that took place March 30 which resulted in a Cruz knockout win.
Alas, the stars aligned once more for Haney and Garcia to re-engage in negotiations, and a fairly painless deal was done in short order.
“Me and Ryan, we was talking on the phone days before the fight got made. We were trying to make the fight happen. We were going numbers, and how things are going to be,” Haney told BoxingScene and other media.
“I have to take my hat off to Ryan. When it came to negotiating, he gave me everything that I wanted. There never was no real resistance. He agreed on everything. I agreed on everything. And the fight was easy to make ... he agreed to VADA testing, there was no resistance to it.”
Haney's father, trainer, and manager Bill Haney said they agreed to a 55-45 revenue split in favor of Garcia, which covers the gate, sponsors and pay-per-view percentages.
As complimentary as Devin Haney was toward Garcia for getting the deal done, he wasn’t as impressed with the level of competition Garcia has faced.
“Who’s the top guy that he beat? Luke Campbell? Maybe Javier Fortuna who was washed and old. He don’t have a resume,” said Haney.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
