Boxing expert Tim Bradley was surprised and disappointed in what he saw from Devin Haney in his loss to Ryan Garcia last Saturday night.
Bradley felt going into WBC light welterweight champion Haney’s fight with Ryan (25-1, 20 KOs) that he’d shown that he’d evolved from in his performances against Regis Prograis and Vasily Lomachenko. But against Ryan, Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) regressed with the way he kept getting hit with left hooks.
One possible reason for that is Haney was hurt in the first round, and wasn’t himself for the remainder of the fight. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and he kept getting hurt from rounds seven on. The fact that Haney made it the full 12 rounds was a miracle because he looked done in the seventh.
Bradley’s Initial Impressions of Haney
“I always thought Haney’s chin was suspect, but after he showed improvement defensively and offensively, I thought, ‘This dude is special. He’s moving in the right direction,’” Tim Bradley said on the Sean Zittel YouTube channel after Devin Haney’s loss to Ryan Garcia last Saturday night.
Haney had done a good job of dealing with the punching power of his last opponent Regis Prograis, but that was against an older fighter without speed. Ryan was much faster and stronger and was pursuing Haney around the ring.
The Garcia Fight: A Step Backwards
“He didn’t show that last night at all. I don’t know if it was a mental lapse. I think he alluded to it after his interview, saying, ‘I kind of fell asleep.’ You can’t do that at the highest level,” said Bradley. “You can’t, and I thought he had mastered that he had mastered supreme concentration. I didn’t see it.”
Ryan’s speed, size, power, and combination punching were a nightmare for Haney. He doesn’t possess any of those things, so he was out of his element whenever he and Ryan exchanged punches.
Where things got really bad is when Haney would back away to retreat. Ryan would quickly follow him and trap him against the ropes to land heavy shots. Lomachenko had done the same thing, but he lacked the power, speed and size to cause Haney the problems that Ryan did.
“I saw it against Regis. I saw it a little bit against Lomachenko. I thought he was starting to develop that and focus,” said Bradley. “He didn’t have the focus, and it could have a lot to do with that he got rocked in the first round, and he got dropped.
Haney’s Tactical Errors and Ryan’s Left Hook
“When you get dropped, you want that get-back, and you trying to be the puncher now. He started coming forward and it wasn’t the right game plan. It just wasn’t. He wasn’t prepared for that left hook [from Ryan],” said Bradley.
Tim is right, I think Haney’s fierce pride got in the way of his mind, making him fight in a way that wasn’t wise for him. He was fighting someone with too much power to be trying to get back, and he paid the price.
“The crazy part was he got hit with the same punch. I think of a fighter like Haney he’s got a supreme IQ, but he couldn’t get away from that punch. So that tells you something about Ryan. We might look at him like a one-trick pony or I do, but that one trick is bad,” said Bradley.
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