Ryan Garcia is confident heading into his April 20 fight with Devin Haney.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) believes that a win over Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) in Brooklyn, New York, will make him the face of boxing. It might not be that simple, but he envisions that as part of the path. Garcia had a slew of predictions and thoughts at his lunchtime media workout on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas, about what fans can expect.
For starters, Garcia believes that Haney isn’t on his level; despite Haney being a two-division world champion, an undisputed champion at lightweight, and defeating the respected Regis Prograis in his last fight to win the WBC junior welterweight title.
From an analytics or even sport perspective, it doesn’t quite add up, but that doesn’t change the fact that Garcia, the betting underdog seems to view it as his truth.
During a media interview, broadcast on Golden Boy Promotions YouTube page, Garcia said: “It is going to be light work for me. He is just not on my level and he is never going to be on my level. He is a good fighter, but he is not my level.”
Part of Garcia’s confidence seems to come from his belief that he has now entered the best years of his athletic career. Garcia admitted during the interview with Beto Duran that he feels he is in the early stages of his prime. He feels he is improving with age and hitting his athletic ceiling as a fighter.
Garcia, who is very popular on social media with millions of followers, added: “It is going to be a vibe, it is going to be a movie. I just want to tell everyone that is going to be in the arena to make sure you create cool chants, I want to feel the vibration in the room. I want you guys to scare Haney with your guys roar – and we just annihilate this dude.”
Garcia has never won a world title but firmly believes this fight will be his moment in the sun.
The challenger is talking like he is the champion. The perplexing confidence of Garcia in the build-up and his social media behavior – which has been untraditional at the very least – has had some questioning whether Garcia would even make it to the fight.
Garcia addressed that in his closing remarks, stating that he believed Haney hoped he wouldn’t make it to the fight. Instead, Garcia made a bold boast stating that he is going to have an emphatic victory, and then takeover boxing.
“My intention is to lay a stamp on this,” stated Garcia who feels winning this fight will make him the best fighter in the world. “I just got to keep fighting and proving it, and becoming a champion in multiple weight classes, and take my spot as the king of boxing.
