Promoter Eddie Hearn doubts whether a rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney would be the biggest fight in boxing, given Kingry’s one-year ban from the New York State Athletic Commission.
Concerns About Garcia’s Year-Long Inactivity
Hearn isn’t sure how Ryan will handle nine months without a training camp while he’s banned from the New York Commission. He hints that Ryan’s life could unravel during that period of inactivity, and anything could happen.
The biggest worry is that Ryan will let himself go physically, not train, and put on a lot of weight that will be impossible for him to lose when his one-year ban expires in the first quarter of 2025.
It’s much harder for fighters competing in the 140- and 147-lb divisions to lose weight and return to their divisions once they’ve gotten badly out of shape than in the higher weights, like heavyweight.
Haney has already asked Ryan (25-1, 20 KOs) to “run it back,” he believes it’ll be the biggest fight in boxing. However, Haney is also potentially suing Ryan, which makes it questionable whether a rematch is viable.
“We don’t know if one of them will never fight again. It’s not a given that Ryan doesn’t do something over the next nine or ten months that means he won’t fight again,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Charlie Parson’s YouTube channel when asked if Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney will be the biggest fight in boxing when Ryan’s year-ban is up in April 2025.
“That’s what I’m concerned about if I’m on that team [Ryan Garcia]. It’s not going to be like, ‘Alright, Ryan. Just chill out for nine months and start camp.’ Can you imagine Ryan Garcia chilling out for nine months with no camp?” said Hearn.
Haney’s Potential Retirement
In Haney’s case, he’s talked about taking a year or two off from boxing to travel and spend his money. If he’s serious about that, he might choose to retire if he loses his desire to keep fighting.
Haney could lose interest in returning to the ring, especially if his confidence is gone from his loss to Ryan and his marketability doesn’t return.
Devin has already been disappointed about the low $2.42 million purse bid for his WBC mandatory Sandor Martin. If Haney expects only to receive $5-20 million purses to be offered, he could choose to retire if that doesn’t happen.
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