Photo: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy – This picture is certainly not representative of the fight between Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), but it represents the weeks that followed the fight quite well.
The week was relatively calm in international boxing, but only in the ring. Outside, the hottest soap opera in boxing involving, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, ended with a huge exclamation mark.
It’s confirmed, Ryan Garcia is suspended for one year (until April 2025), will have to undergo doping tests throughout his suspension, pay a fine of $10,000 and – strangely – give back $1.1M USD of his purse to Golden Boy Promotions.
Not only was he unable to prove that any supplement he ingested was tainted with ostarine (like Lucian Bute at the time), but the investigation also showed that ‘KingRy’ had illegally rehydrated with IV. All this, let’s remember, after coming 3 pounds above the 140 lb limit…
Thus, his victory becomes a ‘no-contest’, which means that it is removed from his record, as is Haney’s defeat, which therefore gives back to him an immaculate record of 31-0, 15 KO.
Will Haney wait?
Devin Haney reacted to the news with a victory dance on Instagram. However, he said he was ready to wait until the end of the Californian’s suspension to fight again, of course against Garcia, but this time a ‘clean’ one.
So with two boxers talking about both a lawsuit and a rematch, one wonders if this saga will ever truly be over.
In the meantime, however, this confirms what seemed written on the wall. By taking a break from boxing, Haney would relinquish his title rather than face mandatory challenger Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs). This would therefore cancel the purse bid won by Top Rank earlier this week, with an amount of $2.42M USD.
Earlier this year, the Spaniard accepted a few thousand dollars to let Garcia face Haney. He could now face Dominican Alberto Puello (23-0, 10 KOs), newly crowned WBC interim champion, for the full title.
Some results
I repeat myself, but besides that, it was rather calm in the ring. Here are some results anyway:
United States: on ESPN+, in Las Vegas, Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) defended his WBO featherweight title in just 4 rounds against Sergio Sanchez (22-2, 13 KOs). O.). If Robeisy Ramirez wins on the Teofimo-Claggett undercard next week, a rematch between the Mexican and the Cuban could take place in the fall.
In the co-main event, Andres Cortes (22-0, 12 KOs) won a decision against the colorful Puerto Rican Abraham Nova (23-3, 16 KOs). The judges’ unanimous decision, however, was not unanimous among fans… but it’s up to you to judge.
I told you about James Toney’s little cousin who was fighting on a californian club show. To follow up, sadly, Victor Toney (8-3-1, 6 KOs) lost by KO in the 3rd round against Jordan Panthen (9-0, 8 KOs).
United Kingdom: world title contender Lyndon Arthur (24-2, 16 KOs) had a tougher comeback than expected by winning a split decision against his countrymate Liam Cameron (23-6, 10 K .-O.). According to our sources (Boxrec), it was a fairly dirty fight, where each of the two men was deducted a point.
In another local English fight, Felix Cash (16-1, 10 KOs) was upset by European champion Tyler Denny (18-2-3, 1 KO) via a 5 round technical decision.
Russia: sad result for Artur Ziyatdinov (15-3, 12 KOs). Not shying away from any challenge, the former EOTTM protégé returned from his January defeat against Albert Ramirez by facing another undefeated boxer on enemy soil. This time, the defeat was a little more violent as Denis Savitsky (10-0-1, 7 KOs) stopped Ziyatdinov in the 5th round…
The PG’s Agenda
Great week ahead for boxing fans, here are the 5 fights we are watching:
Teofimo vs. Claggett
Here we are! Live from Miami, on ESPN in the United States and TSN in Canada, the ‘Dragon’ Steve Claggett (38-7-2, 26 KOs) will want to shock the whole world and the WBO super-lightweight world champion welterweight, Teofimo Lopez.
I won’t tell you any more here. Instead, I invite you to read my interview with Teofimo Lopez (available here) and my story on Steve Claggett (available here).
‘Bam’ vs. Estrada
Besides his projected weight of 118 lbs, this is a HUGE fight between 2 possible future hall of famers. On one side: Juan Fransisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs), 34 years old and four-time world champion. The man who delivered an epic trilogy to the legendary ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. On the other: the 24-year-old phenom, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs), already a three-time world champion, in search of a 4th title this Saturday. It’s on DAZN and I Pray to heaven it wont be at the same time as Teofimo-Claggett.
Martinez vs. Góngora
Friday on ProBoxTV, Carlos Góngora (22-2, 17 KOs) faces hard-hitting Guatemalan Lester Martinez (17-0, 15 KOs). This is only the Ecuadorian’s 2nd fight since his legendary fight in March 2023 against Christian Mbilli. At the dawn of his 36th birthday, he has no room for error. Conversely, a bit like Mbilli at the time, this could be the entry into the big leagues of Martinez…
Akpejiori vs. Garcia
Again Friday, on FiteTV, the Nigerian giant and former opponent of Arslanbek Makhmudov, Raphael Akpejiori (17-1, 16 KOs), is looking for a 3rd consecutive victory as well as his most important career . In enemy territory, he faced the Dominican colossus Alexis Garcia (12-1, 7 KOs).
Mendoza vs. Merez
I have already provided you with a file on the best records in boxing. Currently, 8 boxers are perfect in 30 fights or more, but only 2 are as perfect in 40 fights. They are Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) and of course… Abel Mendoza (40-0, 30 KOs).
So it’s the return of the king this Friday, the man with a record as sublime as it is mounted, the 14th contender for the WBA super featherweight title, ‘El Zorro’ himself, Abel Mendoza. Ironically, he will attempt to ‘surpass’ Crawford by beating the opposite of everything he represents, a battle-tested journeyman with an awful record, Mexican German Ivan Merez (65-69-3, 41 K.- O.). It will be in El Paso, Texas and for those interested, the son of a legend, Fernando Vargas Jr (14-0, 13 KOs), will also be there.
With that, have a glorious week of boxing!
