Former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson breaks down what went wrong for Devin Haney as ‘The Dream’ gets dropped and out-pointed by Ryan Garcia in New York.
When it comes to fight IQ and the ability to analyze combat sports at the highest level, there are only a handful of athletes who possess the knowledge and experience of Demetrious Johnson – but even ‘Mighty Mouse’ was forced to admit that he was ‘shocked’ at Ryan Garcia’s performance last night in New York.
Ryan Garcia steps up to shock the boxing world versus Haney
After one of the most controversial build-ups in recent boxing memory, Ryan Garcia stunned the combat sports world last night as he earned a majority decision victory over Devin Haney.
After being wobbled in the opening round, Garcia dropped Haney a further three times in the fight and despite having a point deducted for a late punch, the scorecards ultimately read 112-112, 115-109, and 114-110 in favor of ‘King Ry’.
Yet as the dust only just starts to settle on what was undoubtedly the most dramatic boxing story of 2024 so far, fighters from around the world are starting to break down how exactly Garcia was able to get his hand raised.
Demetrious Johnson breaks down Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia
Not only is Demetrious Johnson known as one of the best UFC fighters to have ever stepped foot inside the octagon but also one of the smartest, gaining a reputation amongst fans for his high-quality fight breakdowns and analysis.
Speaking via his official YouTube channel, Johnson broke down how Ryan Garcia was able to outclass and out-point Devin Haney over 12 dramatic rounds:
“Haney was trying to be too much of a tactician, trying to land certain shots – not to [necessarily] play it safe but he couldn’t get to Ryan [and] each time he tried to fight Ryan, Ryan would put him on his a**.”
“I’m shocked how well Garcia did,” said the UFC legend, explaining how “When you look at Haney’s fights in the past, he’s very good at slowing the fight down, getting behind his jab and making his opponents miss.”
“Devin would never commit, he would get close and wait and wait and wait, but then Ryan Garcia would turn his back and he’ll keep beating up the flank which is an illegal shot. Eventually, he would get there and throw a hook and Ryan Garcia would block it.”
“Now when Garcia would get after Devin, that’s when Devin had the worst time in the ring,” shared Johnson, with Haney being sent crashing to the canvas on three separate occasions throughout the contest.
“When Garcia would get at him, he would measure his jab and once Haney tried to do something, he would catch him with that check left hook…Hit him with that blistering left hook that no one ever sees and I think that was the difference of the fight.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ ultimately judged that the contest came down to the way both athletes were looking to get their hand raised: “Ryan Garcia wanted to end this fight, he wanted to put Haney’s lights out whereas Haney was staying true to a boxer in hiding behind his jab, trying to look good and be technical.”
‘Mighty Mouse’ admits frustration with boxing rules and refereeing
Whilst the enormous underdog upset will be a major topic of conversation for several months to come, the bout wasn’t without its controversial moments with fans and pundits alike commenting on the number of halts to the action that occurred.
“The thing that was very frustrating about this fight is that the referee kept Haney in that fight, I felt that each time Garcia would hurt Haney, Haney would be hanging on to him and then the ref’s like ‘stop holding him’ – it’s like dude, you just gave him [Haney] like 15-20 seconds of rest, you stopped Ryan’s momentum to finish.”
Johnson argued that “boxing has to start penalizing people for turning their back” as the lack of legally viable shots from that position “stops your progression as an athlete or boxer.”
“The difference in this fight, the X factor, was Garcia actually going out there to fight. Devin was so hesitant and cautious from that very first round and Garcia jumped on him like white on rice.”
“There has to come a point in time where boxing comes down to who’s actually hurting their opponent and actually trying to end the fight,” said Johnson, adding that “I’m watching, it was Garcia trying to end the fight, not Haney.”