BoxRec

Don't care. I hate the drug cheats.

Better fight on paper than Stevenson. At least because of the last fight, people don't know who would win that fight.
I don't know why he even called out Stevenson. Stay away from him.

‘He has to be realistic’: Devin Haney talks potential for Ryan Garcia rematch

Devin Haney says he’s ready to rematch Ryan Garcia as soon as he gets a grip on reality.



Here are some excerpts of what Haney had to say below.

Haney on trading words with Rolly Romero on X and whether that fight is in consideration
“Rolly said what he said on Twitter and he basically stood on it. His manager reached out to us with a solid offer, something that made sense for me and my team, and now we’re starting to negotiate…He can say what he want to say, the world know I’m Deebo for a reason, because I’m the guy pulling up on everyone and wanted to make the biggest and best fights happen. So, the duck talk is for somebody else, not for me.”

On a rematch with Ryan Garcia
“That’s a huge fight for boxing, huge fight for myself. That’s a fight that I would love to make happen but if Ryan’s not going to be realistic in these negotiations then we just got to move on and go to the next best guy, and Rolly has a belt, Rolly is the guy that actually beat Ryan Garcia that Ryan Garcia is not screaming for a rematch with him. So if that’s the guy that beat Ryan then I’ll go ahead and beat him, and if Ryan wants to get serious and be realistic in these negotiations then we can do that fight or we can do that fight next. It makes no difference to me.

“The Ryan Garcia fight is the biggest fight in boxing, in my opinion. It does so much for me and my career and resume, but like I said, he has to be realistic in these negotiations. I’m not here to just take anything to get back whatever. Ryan Garcia, when the ball was in his court he didn’t make weight, he showed up with a positive drug test, it was all over the place. So we’re not going to do it like that time around. We’re going to do it the right way and if he doesn’t want to do it the right way, then we’ll move on.”

On how Garcia hasn’t been realistic
“The talk hasn’t gone far because the first thing he said was — I actually DM’d him and I told him let’s start really negotiating and start getting these things going — first thing he said was ‘I’m just letting you know I’m the A-side.’ One, we haven’t even really started negotiating to even say what’s the A-side or B-side and everybody knows if Turki Alalshikh is going to put on the fight then it’s really no A-side or B-side. You get what you get and you go your way and I go my way.

“The deals are so lucrative that you don’t really care about — I never asked about what Brian Norman is getting or what Ramirez is getting because I’m happy with what I’m getting. So it does not matter, really. So I just feel that was a way to, I don’t know if it was mind games or I don’t know what his angle was at it but it just wasn’t realistic.

“And at the end of the day if we’re talking about A-side, I’m the guy that’s #1 in the division, I’m the guy who beat the best guy in the division. He beat the worst guy in the division. I’m the guy on the P4P list. So if anybody’s the A-side, it’s me.”

Looks like Haney has moved on to Romero.

Capture his title and he has 2 belts.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑05 Mar 2026, 15:13 Looks like Haney has moved on to Romero.

Capture his title and he has 2 belts.

And he absolutely will capture it. Probably with a shutout decision or a TKO after a one sided fight.

Devin Haney Targets September 5 for Ryan Garcia Rematch at Allegiant Stadium

Devin Haney’s self named promotional company (Devin Haney Promotions) announced on social media this week that a rematch between the WBO welterweight champion and WBC title holder Ryan Garcia is being targeted for September 5 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, according to World Boxing News.

If confirmed, the bout would serve as a welterweight unification fight between two former rivals whose first meeting, in April 2024, ended in suspension, a positive drug test, and a result overturned to a no contest. No formal confirmation has come from Garcia’s camp or any broadcast partner.

The targeted date would place the fight two weeks ahead of the Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao rematch, currently slated for September 19.

Negotiation friction over ‘A-side’ status

While the date has been floated publicly, the financial terms appear far from settled. In a March 3 interview with Inside The Ring, Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) said Garcia immediately positioned himself as the bigger draw when preliminary discussions began.

“The first thing he said was, ‘Hey, I’m just letting you know I’m the A-side,'” Haney told The Ring. “One, we haven’t even started really negotiating to even say what’s the A side or a B side, and everybody knows if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is going to put up the fight, then it’s really no A-side or B-side. You get what you get and you go your way and I go my way.”

“He has to be realistic in these negotiations. I’m not here to just take anything.”

Haney also referenced Garcia’s conduct in the lead-up to the first fight as a reason he would not accept terms blindly this time around.

“Ryan Garcia, when the ball was in his court, he didn’t make weight, he showed up with a positive drug test, it was all over the place,” Haney added. “We’re not going to do it like that this time around.”

Haney indicated that if Garcia does not adjust his position, he would pivot to a unification bout against WBA welterweight champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero instead.

How both fighters rebuilt at 147

Since their first meeting, Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) was suspended for one year by the New York State Athletic Commission on June 20, 2024, after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine in samples collected around the first Haney fight. The commission also fined him $10,000, ordered forfeiture of his contract purse (over $1 million to Golden Boy Promotions), and officially changed the result to a no contest.

Garcia had weighed in at 143.25 pounds for that fight, 3.25 pounds over the 140-pound super lightweight limit, making him ineligible to win the WBC title on the night regardless of the result.

Garcia’s suspension was lifted in April 2025 and returned the following month against Romero, losing a unanimous decision in Times Square. He bounced back by capturing the WBC welterweight title with a dominant decision victory over Mario Barrios on February 21, 2026, dropping Barrios in the first round.

Haney, meanwhile, moved up to welterweight and became a three-division champion with a unanimous decision over Brian Norman Jr. on November 22, 2025, claiming the WBO belt. He is currently ranked No. 9 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.

The first fight still looms

Despite the no contest ruling, the physical reality of the first bout, in which Garcia dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision on the night, continues to shape the narrative.

Haney himself acknowledged he underestimated Garcia. “I came into that fight overconfident. I felt like a guy like Ryan couldn’t beat me,” he said. “I thought that I was going to run him over. I didn’t take him as seriously as I should have.”

Romero, who has faced both men, offered a blunter assessment on The Last Stand Podcast: “They could fight a hundred times. Ryan knocks him out a hundred times.”

What comes next

The September 5 date has been put into the public conversation by Haney’s side, but the gap between a targeted date and a signed contract remains. Garcia’s camp has not publicly responded to the timeline, and the revenue split appears to be the central sticking point. If talks stall, Haney has already named his alternative: Romero and the WBA belt.

Why would you overlook my boy Rolly like that?
Now I hope Rolly smashed their plans.

Imagine if Ryan also has a unification with Crocker. They could fight for undisputed in September. The world is not ready for undisputed Champion Ryan.

You scared to death to sign up for drug testing.. I told Turki let’s do it. Get u signed up for drug testing. https://t.co/wcKeLn1oQE

— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) March 31, 2026

He wanna fight In July cause he still cycling those PEDS.. September & start drug testing now

— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) March 31, 2026

Ward implores Haney to take Garcia rematch next

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to big fights for Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.

However, nothing would be bigger than a rematch between the two. Along with the bad blood between them, the stakes are raised significantly with it being a welterweight title unification fight.

Andre Ward, former super middleweight and light heavyweight champ, echoed that sentiment and believes the rematch against Garcia is the fight Haney should target next to erase the memory of their first encounter.

“I think that’s the fight that he needs to take,” Ward told The Ring before calling the Tyson Fury-Arslanbek Makhmudov card for Netflix on Saturday night in London. “You right that wrong, from a legacy standpoint, nobody can say anything. I think it’s also going to make him a much better fighter, because he’s able to deal with those personal demons.”

Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) and Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) first met in April 2024, with the latter tallying three knockdowns in a majority-decision victory. The triumph was short-lived as Garcia failed multiple tests for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine, which led to his win being overturned to a no-contest.

Garcia also missed weight by 3.2 pounds and wasn’t able to fight for Haney’s WBC 140-pound title.

The wheels were set in motion for Haney and Garcia to rematch late in 2025 when they fought on the The Ring’s card on May 2 in Times Square. Haney held up his end of the deal when he beat Jose Ramirez, but Rolly Romero ruined those plans when he dropped Garcia in the second round and upset him by unanimous decision.

Nearly one year later, Haney and Garcia are coming off world title wins on cards sponsored by The Ring, setting the stage for one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing.

Haney, The Ring’s No. 1 welterweight, delivered a masterful performance against Brian Norman on November 22, dropping him in the second round and coasting to a unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight title and become a three-division world champion. Garcia, The Ring’s No. 4 welterweight, dropped Mario Barrios inside the first minute of their fight en route to winning a dominant unanimous decision to nab the WBC belt on February 21.

“Ryan Garcia looked amazing in his last fight,” Ward said. “The hands are still fast, and power is still there. That fight sells itself. That’s a fight that I think they both should take right now.“

Ward believes that's a tall task for Haney, though it’s a situation many fighters have had to overcome to reach the pinnacle of their careers. Ward also feels that how the first fight played out could work in Haney’s favor.

“It won’t be easy, but it’s more than possible,” Ward said. “That's what makes fighters so resilient, is that deep place that you can go to in your mind. We’re constantly doubted. We’re constantly told we can’t do something, and Devin Haney will not be the first fighter to take a loss like that and bounce back. Even though he lost, I think there’s a lot that Devin Haney can take from that fight.

“He could have packed it in with the jaw. He could have packed it in with the early success and some of the late success that Ryan Garcia had. He never quit. He never packed it in. You can’t lose sight of that if you’re Devin Haney.”