If you put too much into what you see on social media, then you would think Ryan Garcia is in trouble. His bizarre antics fully documented online have worried fans, with some calling for the fight to be canceled.
But now that he has missed the weigh-in, this has gone beyond social media stunts for his more than ten million Instagram followers.
Missing a weigh-in is a damning indictment of the state of a fighter’s training and I can only hope that come fight time, Ryan can get his act together.
FIRST. Ryan starts out fast, popping his jab and following up with right hands. Haney bides his time and is content to counter.
In the middle rounds, Haney connects with a right hand that wobbles Garcia. Haney follows up with combinations but somehow Garcia survives.
In the eighth round, Garcia finds his second wind and lands a couple of telling blows. Unfortunately, that was all he had left. Overweight and unable to match Haney’s fitness level, he had to unload early as he knew he didnt have enough gas.
Unfortunately for him, Haney senses this and in the 10th, pounces on a weakend and fading Garcia and knocks him out with a huge right uppercut.
SECOND. Both men are tentative in the first few rounds, but in the third, Haney draws first blood as he knocks down Garcia with a sneaky counter.
Garcia is more surprised than hurt but opts to be more defensive in his approach. The pattern is repeated into the middle rounds, and the crowd starts booing.
Strangely enough, Garcia is doing just a bit more each round by landing the better jab and is ahead on the cards. In the championship rounds, both men step it up a notch but the ensuing exchanges are too close to call.
Garcia ends up winning a controversial split decision.
THIRD. Haney is the aggressor from the get-go, landing jabs and right hands, while Garcia is strangely reticent and unwilling to let his hands go.
Haney continues to punish Garcia in the middle rounds and while the latter lands an occasional power punch, they are too few and far between to make a dent on the scoring.
After the eighth round, with their man unable to put up a competitive stand, Garcia’s corner stops the fight after Ryan bizarrely mumbles something unintelligible after he is asked if he wants to continue
LAST ROUND. It’s on my dear Mom who celebrates her birthday in heaven this week. We miss you Mama Elen.