Haney And Garcia's Kickoff Presser Highlights – ‘He Was At The Press Conference Drunk As A Skunk'
Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia’s first media presser took place from the Palladium Times Square, New York, for their fight on April 20.
The Dream puts his WBC Junior Welterweight Belt on the line, a title he acquired with a win over Regis Prograis. The victory cemented Haney’s legacy as a future hall-of-famer, as he became a two-weight world champion. That followed after he became the youngest undisputed champion of the four-belt era at lightweight.
Garcia enters the bout looking to break the cycle and win his first world title. He has only ever held the interim version of the WBC belt at 135, hoping to go one better this time around. This is his second fight with Derrick James after he stopped the Mexican Oscar Duarte in his last bout.
Haney And Garcia
The pressure is on Garcia to perform since he did withdraw from talks initially in favor of facing Rolando Romero. But since Rolly agreed on a deal to fight Isaac Cruz, Garcia had no option but to return to the negotiating table.
The presser threw up many intriguing elements, with Garcia claiming he had seen a video of Haney being knocked out by Gervonta Davis in sparring, which Floyd Mayweather had shown him. Haney hit back, stating he hoped Garcia would not pull out, given he withdrew the first time in favor of facing Romero. Here were the best bits from the presser and the post-reaction.
Highlights
Key Quotes
“He knows he don’t have the skills, he don’t have the IQ, he don’t have the heart. We’ve seen him quit. We’ve seen you take a knee, and it won’t be no different. When it gets hot, you quit.
“I think that it makes sense. I’ve been wanting to fight Ryan for a long time. We can say he’s ‘eager’ to fight me, but we don’t know. If he goes on another jog with Floyd, he might pull out again, so we don’t know. We gotta see.
"I heard some things that Ryan said about my religion, which me and Ryan talked about it before, and he said he didn’t say it. So I’m not gonna hold him to that. But it’s personal now. It’s bigger than boxing. We’ve been rivals since we were nine, 10 years old, so it’s time to seal the deal," Haney
Garcia
“I felt like he was picking up steam, he finally became, like, more of a draw and big potential for a great fight and a great event. Obviously, every time he fights it’s mid, it’s, like, whatever, but he did a little better [against Prograis], so I was, like, ‘Alright, let’s do it, let’s run it.’ This is just the perfect timing. It’s for the WBC belt, it’s at a healthy weight [at] 140, everything’s on the line. I think this is the right moment.
“I want to just mess around and knock him out with the right hand. [And] I just want to do that. I hope that happens. How funny would it be if I knocked him out with the right hand after he [called me a one-trick pony]? That shit would be hilarious," Garcia
Post Presser
“He was obviously a little bit different from what happened in Vegas when he ran. He was at the press conference drunk as a skunk. But, you know, hopefully, he can get it together before April 20 as I’m going have him punch on that day,” Haney said
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