Lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis gave his view on why heavy favorite Devin Haney suffered a defeat against Ryan Garcia.
(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada)
Davis points to Ryan’s early power punches that he hit Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) having a lingering effect on him mentally and physically that changed how he fought for the remainder of the fight.
Early Damage and Lasting Impact
“I think from the first round, the fight was different. From the first round when Devin got hurt, I don’t think he was all the way recovered physically or mentally,” said Keyshawn Davis to Fight Hub TV, talking about why Devin Haney lost to Ryan Garcia.
It appeared that Haney’s legs weren’t stable after he was shaken up by a jarring left hook from Ryan in round one. Davis feels that Haney went into cruise control after the first round, and chose to do the minimum to win rounds.
The Lingering Threat of Power
“He got hurt in the first round with the first clean shot, and now, as a fighter, you’re thinking that you don’t know how he hit you, where it came from, and how fast. You just know you got hit,” Davis continued about Haney.
I think Haney realizes the speed, power, and combinations that Ryan was throwing were too formidable for him to take any unnecessary chances after round one.
Where things went wrong for Haney was that he couldn’t keep Ryan off for three minutes of each round. When Ryan would land, those shots were powerful, and blistering fast. The combination punching is what seemed to give Haney the most problems.
He was taking the first punch well, but the second and third blistering-fast shots in the combination are what gave Haney the most problems.
Mitigating Risk, Ceding Momentum
“So in his head for the rest of the fight, he was probably being cautious and he’s okay with winning those rounds on cruise control because he’s trying not to get hit with that same shot that he didn’t see again,” said Keyshawn.
Haney was excellent at winning rounds from the second through the sixth, but things fell apart in the seventh when he was clipped by a three-punch combination from Ryan.
“So, I just feel the power was a difference-maker. He was worried about not getting hit with a clean shot, so he was trying to cruise control it, or he just couldn’t pick it back up because he got hurt. I just feel that Ryan was the better man that night overall,” said Keyshawn.
