Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney could be coming off upset losses in their joint May card on Times Square in New York. Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) fights Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz while Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) takes on former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez on the Turki Al-Sheikh card.
Impact of dismissal
Ryan and Haney picked the wrong tune-up opponents to fight coming off 13-month layoffs. 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) and former WBA light welterweight champion Pitbull Cruz are not the right opponents for either fighter to face after a year of inactivity. Those two would be a nightmare for Garcia and Devin, even if they were active.
If Kingry and Haney had good punch resistance and could handle being hit at the basket, facing Ramirez and Cruz wouldn’t be a big deal. That is not the case. They are both fragile fighters who have been broken in battle.
Garcia-Cruz will be fighting at a catchweight of 143 or 144 at welterweight, and that’s perfect for the powerful 5’4″ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KO). In Pitbull’s two fights at 140 against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, he was hit with more power.
Rayo likely would have been defeated had he not used his new Lomachenko-esque movement to evade Cruz’s constant pressure. Kingry does not possess the same movement ability, and will be forced to fight for three minutes of each round at close range. If Ryan fails to hurt Pitbull, he will be in trouble.
50-50 Fights
Turki gave fans two great 50-50 fights with his doubleheader of Garcia-Cruz and Haney-Ramirez in Times Square. If he agrees with Ryan and Devin potentially loses their fight, that’s great. Al-Sheikh has already scheduled Garcia-Haney to fight a rematch in October in Riyadh. This fight will be announced if one or both lose their tuning in May.
This is a better deal for the fans on PPV than if these two were fed tomato milk, as is the custom for rich, high-profile fighters coming off extended layoffs.
On November 16, Jose Ramirez lost to Arnold Barboza Jr., a highly ranked undefeated light welterweight contender, by a 10-round unanimous decision. This fight was competitive.
If Barboza Jr. had he been stationary, he would not have won because Ramirez worked when he was in the pocket. Devin doesn’t have the same evasive style as Barboza, nor does he possess his power. He won’t be able to do the things he did to fight Ramirez.
