In a twist that perfectly sums up boxing’s strange new era, Ryan Garcia put big money behind the very rival he insists he “always beats.” Garcia revealed he wagered $50,000 on Devin Haney to defeat Brian Norman Jr. on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and cashed when Haney delivered a calm, composed performance to claim the WBO welterweight title on The Ring IV: Night of the Champions card.
Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) dropped Norman early, controlled the tempo, and cruised to a unanimous decision in his welterweight debut, becoming a three-division world champion and immediately climbing to the top of The Ring’s 147-pound rankings.
For Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC), none of that came as a surprise.
“That didn’t surprise me at all”
Speaking afterward, Garcia broke down the fight and why he was so confident betting on Haney even after handing him the most dramatic scare of his career last year.
“That didn’t surprise me at all,” Garcia said. “I knew Haney was going to rebound after the Jose Ramirez fight. Haney showed me what he usually is – a fast puncher, tricky shot selection, and ultimately knows how to stay out of range.”
According to Garcia, the entire complexion of the fight changed the moment Haney scored the second-round knockdown.
“Haney got his confidence once he dropped Norman, and Norman lost all of his confidence and didn’t know how to gain it back. Haney was able to have his way. There was never any real threat after that. Norman looked how I thought he would inexperienced. Norman was in la-la land after getting knocked down. I don’t know how Haney didn’t get him out of there. He doesn’t have a killer instinct.”
Haney, who’s now gone the distance in 11 straight fights, fought with his usual discipline minimal risk, clean counters, and enough offense to bank rounds without getting drawn into a firefight. It was effective, but not everyone was thrilled with the aesthetics.
Echoes of Ryan Garcia and a familiar left hook
Heading into the Norman fight, the narrative was simple: could Norman land the same kind of left hook that Ryan Garcia did in April 2024, when he dropped Haney three times in their wild, controversial clash?
Instead, it was Haney who landed the money left hook. He sat Norman down with that shot in the second round, flipping the script on all the pre-fight talk that suggested Norman would replay Garcia’s game plan.
Garcia noticed the irony too but wasn’t impressed with how Norman tried to replicate him.
“Norman showed me that he’s not a thinker,” Garcia said. “Norman never set up the hook. He just jumped in with the hook and thought that he was going to land it. Anyone can see that. It was so obvious.”
Garcia’s own win over Haney was later overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for ostarine, a PED something he still insists offered him no real advantage. But in his mind, stylistically, the matchup is always his.
“With Devin, you have to hurt that dude. You can’t just let him have his way. You have to make him feel every shot. Because, as you have seen, Devin will fight scared. Norman stood in front of him all night. What are you doing standing in front of Haney? He’s going to find his shots, sooner or later. It was a bad game plan for Norman.”
A bet, a belt… and a bigger play at welterweight
Garcia’s $50,000 bet on Haney wasn’t just gambling bravado it was also a setup for the next chapter.
Haney’s win gave him:
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The WBO welterweight title
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A spot back in many pound-for-pound top 10 lists
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First place in The Ring’s welterweight rankings
Garcia, meanwhile, is lined up to fight WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on February 21, with his eyes clearly locked on a future unification and a rematch with Haney, this time with belts on the line.
“I am going to show a whole different side of me and a whole different Ryan from my last fight,” Garcia promised. “Everyone is going to change their mind and say ‘I should fight Haney.’”
He didn’t hold back on how he sees the matchup now.
“Devin just cannot beat me. No matter what you do, how you set it up, I always beat that man. I know him better than he knows himself.”
“Same ass-whooping, same mentality”
Despite the no-contest ruling and the cloud of the ostarine case, Garcia insists the story of Haney-Garcia I is still the real story and that a second fight would end the exact same way.
“I really want all that smoke, for real,” Garcia said. “I’m just tired of the narrative of them saying ‘if he didn’t cheat’ I didn’t cheat! … Anybody who looks into it knows that I had no actual advantage and even the Haneys know that, but if they want to walk into the fight with that delusion, let them do it because I will give them a reality check once again.”
If the rematch happens, Garcia claims he won’t be the smiling, playful version fans saw in the build-up last time.
“I’m not going to be nice to them again. They think I’m going to be nice, I’m not going to be nice to them same treatment, same ass-whooping, and same mentality.”
What’s next for Haney vs. Garcia 2?
For now, the paths are clear:
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Haney: newly crowned WBO welterweight champion, with options ranging from unifications to mandatory defenses and mega-fights in Riyadh.
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Garcia: must first get past Mario Barrios and re-establish himself as a legitimate force at 147 after a rough 2025 that included the loss to Rolly Romero.
If both men keep winning, a unification rematch becomes more than just grudge-fight talk it becomes one of the biggest events in boxing.
For all the insults and contradictions, one thing is obvious: Ryan Garcia still believes Devin Haney is the guy to beat for him so much so that he’s willing to bet on his rival in the short term, just to try and cash in even bigger down the line.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
