Boxing betting tips: Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia live on DAZN
Devin Haney can expose a poorly-prepared Ryan Garcia when the two old rivals square off in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
Boxing betting tips: Haney vs Garcia
1pt Devin Haney to win in rounds 7-12 at 4/1 (William Hill)
All eyes are on the Brooklyn Center this weekend as DEVIN HANEY and Ryan Garcia settle their old rivalry in New York.
Both 25 years old and in their athletic prime, it seemed the perfect time for the American superstars to meet and there was great anticipation among the fans when this blockbuster was announced earlier in the year. However, all the talk since has been about the mental state of Garcia after a non-stop series of bizarre outbursts and antics on social media.
His incessant posting of nonsensical rants and very concerning videos paint the picture of a young man who is not in a good place right now, which is even more worrying when you consider he took 15 months out of the sport following his January 2021 victory over Luke Campbell due to mental health issues.
This has all been broadcast to his 10.5 million Instagram followers and has even prompted both his brother and ex-wife to publicly express their concerns about his well-being.
It certainly doesn’t feel like it, but there is a chance is could all be a ploy to unsettle his opponent. However, even if Garcia is at his very best here, he would still have an awful lot on his plate against a man who continues to go from strength to strength.
Always touted as future star, Haney (31-0) has developed into an elite technician and while he was already a red-hot favourite before the worrying behaviour of Garcia (6/1), his odds have contracted further, and he is now a best price of 1/8 to extend his perfect record to 32 wins.
Haney proved he can live up to the hype when becoming undisputed lightweight king in Australia with a dominant decision victory over George Kambosos Jr in June 2022, and he returned to his opponent’s backyard to repeat the dose in even more comfortable fashion four months later.
Next up was the great Vasyl Lomachenko and after a 12-round chess match of the highest quality, it was Haney who nicked the razor-thin decision to claim the biggest win of his career.
Having struggled to make 135lb for some time, he clearly relished the step up to super lightweight when putting on a clinic against WBC champion Regis Prograis, who was considered by many to be the number one in the division. Haney won every round on all three scorecards, including dropping his man in the third session, and turned the eagerly-awaited showdown into a one-sided beat down.
He’s still improving with each fight and there could be more now he is no longer boiling his huge frame down to the lightweight limit.
Haney and Garcia were standout amateurs on the American scene, and they won three bouts apiece in their six bouts with each other, so there was always a sense that they would meet again in the professional ranks for a very lucrative pay day.
A lot has changed since their matchups in a vest, and they have subsequently adopted very different lifestyles. While Garcia went about collecting social media followers, Haney went about collecting belts and their polar opposite approaches could be all too evident this weekend.
That’s not to say Garcia hasn’t achieved plenty already, because he certainly has. ‘King Ry’ made it to 23-0 in dazzling fashion and his victories over the aforementioned Campbell (TKO7) and Javier Fortuna (KO6) were impressive. That earned him a money-spinning duel with fellow unbeaten American Gervonta Davis last April and while he succumbed to the heavy-handed counterpuncher in the seventh round, he more than played his part in the mega-fight and deserved a lot of credit for being the driving force for making the contest happen.
Garcia didn’t look great against the aggressive Oscar Duarte in his December comeback, but pulled a stoppage out of the bag in the eighth round and that may have been the confidence booster he needed.
No matter how well or badly Garcia’s camp has gone, his speed and power will still be there against Haney, and it is those two attributes that always make him dangerous. His lightning-fast left hook has taken out many an opponent and it will do damage if he can detonate that bomb on Haney’s chin.
The problem for Garcia is that he has become a bit of a ‘one tricky pony’ and everyone knows that it is his money punch. Davis knew it and was able to avoid it. Haney will be very aware of it as well.
Haney also has a dominant weapon, but one he can dictate the fight with, and that is very hard to escape. His jab is as good as anyone’s in the game right now and the way he controls the range with it, as well as his excellent footwork, is a thing of beauty for the purists. Despite Prograis being a top-level front-foot operator, he couldn’t get anywhere near Haney and barely landed a clean shot in the 36 minutes they shared in the ring.
His concentration levels are second to none and he can carry out his gameplan to the letter for pretty much every second of every round. He is also extremely disciplined outside of the ring and ‘lives the life’ 365 days a year, which is a stark contrast to the image Garcia portrays.
My initial thought was the obvious one – this will be another decision victory for Haney. His last eight fights have gone the distance, and you have to go back to 2019 for his last stoppage win. The price of that outcome has drifted to a tempting 5/6, but it’s hard to ignore the worrying signs we’ve seen from Garcia of late and those clues are enough for me to believe a Haney stoppage is a very real possibility.
Any stones left unturned in his training camp would mean Garcia struggles to live with the pace set by Haney, especially in the later rounds, and there is the chance he may unravel mentally in the ring as well. This leads us back to his defeat to Davis, who dropped him with a body shot, and Garcia’s decision to stay on one knee until the referee had completed his count to 10 left many questioning his heart.
It is also worth noting that Haney is an excellent body puncher himself and if Garcia is vulnerable downstairs, then it could his undoing again.
Given their history with each other and how personal the build-up has become, it would be no surprise to see a more spiteful version of Haney and this all leads me towards the favourite winning inside the distance being the value call. It’s 7/4 for Haney to do so and that seems pretty fair, but the greater appeal is in the round group betting market and Haney to win in the second half of the fight at 4/1.
After the turbulent preparations, this could well turn into a nightmare for Garcia at the hands of Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney.
CLICK HERE to back Haney in rounds 7-12 with Sky Bet
Posted at 1025 BST on 19/04/24
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