Devin Haney Claims A-Side Status In Potential Rematch With Ryan Garcia

Devin Haney states that a rematch with Ryan Garcia will be on his terms due to his positive tests for PEDs from last April.

Haney feels that he’ll be the A-side, which sounds hard to believe, given that he’s not as popular as him. The recent low purse bid for his mandatory Sandor Martin highlights that.

Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 Kos) is suspended for the next ten months due to the New York State Athletic Commission banning him, and he hasn’t said whether he’ll accommodate Haney’s wishes to give him a rematch. Garcia has many other options that would pay better and won’t bring in the same baggage.

In the same interview, Haney confirmed he still plans on suing Ryan for his positive PED test for their fight on April 20th. So, Haney wants Ryan to pay for what he did, yet he also wants a rematch.

This raises questions about Haney’s priorities. These two things contradict each other. Suing Ryan yet expecting him to agree to a rematch as the B-side Who put these ideas into Haney’s head?

It sounds like wishful thinking on Haney’s part to sue Ryan and get a rematch with him. I think he’s got to decide which one he wants to pursue. If he sues Ryan, it’ll likely backfire, and he won’t get the rematch.

Haney’s A-Side Aspirations: Wishful Thinking?

“I would love my next fight to be against Ryan Garcia if everything is right if everything is inactive with the drug tests,” said Devin Haney to Ariel Helwani’s site. “Of course, that’s the fight the world would want to see and the fight that I would want. But he’s got to do his suspension, and we got to figure everything out. Of course, I want to get mine back in blood. I’m that kind of a fighter.”

If Ryan is paying a lot of money to Haney for damage, will he want to give him a rematch? It’s dicy. Fight a guy who is suing you, who isn’t as marketable as other fighters Ryan could fight, and you got to let him be the A-side? That doesn’t make sense for Ryan to fight Haney ever again.

“We don’t know,” said a smiling Haney when asked if he’d be inactive until April 2025. “Of course, I said I’d sit out two years,” said Haney, wondering whether he’d be comfortable sitting out for a year. “You think I’m in my prime? I’m not in my prime yet.”

If Haney does fight someone else before April, it’ll be interesting to see who it is that will give him the kind of money that he’d be satisfied with. He doesn’t seem like he’s cut out for fighting at 147, and only a couple of fighters at 140 that Haney could fight that would pay.

The Naivete of Haney’s A-Side Claims

“I want to fight the best fighters in the world and make the most money possible,” said Haney when asked if he’d like to fight Gervonta Davis. “The next fight [with Ryan Garcia] will be on my terms. We caught the guy cheating. So, wherever the fight is at, it’s going to be on my terms,” said Haney about his believing he’s going to be the A-side in a rematch with Ryan Garcia.

Haney sounds very naive. He will never be the A-side against Ryan Garcia, who has 12 million Instagram followers and can count on many of them to purchase his fights on PPV. Haney doesn’t have a substantial social media following to count on. He can’t use Ryan’s positive PED tests as leverage to be made the A-side in negotiations with him because it doesn’t work like that.

“I’m not fighting in weight classes anymore. I’m fighting any weight I choose. I love belts. Belts put you in history forever, but I did that already,” said Haney on his decision to no longer fight in weight classes, following Ryan’s attitude about that.