Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney could be approaching upset losses on their shared May card in Times Square in New York. Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) fights Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, while Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) takes on former WBC/WBO 140-pound champion José Ramírez on the Turki undercard Al-Sheikh.
Impact of layoff
Ryan and Haney picked the wrong opponents to fight after 13 months of layoffs. 2012 Olympian José Ramírez (29-2, 18 KOs) and former WBA light welterweight champion Pitbull Cruz are not the right opponents for any fighter after a year of inactivity. Those two would be a nightmare for Garcia and Devin even if they were active.
If Kingry and Haney had good punch resistance and could handle being beaten to the curb, facing Ramirez and Cruz wouldn’t be a big deal. That is not the case. They are both fragile fighters who have been broken in battle.
Garcia-Cruz will fight at a weight of 143 or 144 at welterweight, and that’s perfect for the powerful 5’4″ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs). In Pitbull’s two fights at 140 against José ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, were hitting with more power.
Rayo probably would have been eliminated if he hadn’t used his new Lomachenko-style move to evade Cruz’s constant pressure. Kingry does not have the same movement ability and will be forced to fight for three minutes of each round at close range. If Ryan can’t hurt Pitbull, he’ll be in trouble.
50-50 fights
Turki has given fans two great 50-50 fights with his Garcia-Cruz and Haney-Ramirez doubleheader in Times Square. If you’re okay with Ryan and Devin losing their fights, this is great. Al-Sheikh is already planning for Garcia-Haney to fight a rematch in October in Riyadh. That fight will be clouded if one or both lose their tune-ups in May.
This is a better deal for fans on pay-per-view than if these two were fed tomato cans, as is customary among wealthy, high-profile fighters facing lengthy layoffs.
José Ramírez lost to undefeated light welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. via 10-round unanimous decision on November 16. That fight was competitive.
If Barboza Jr. had been stationary, he wouldn’t have won because Ramirez worked him when he was in the pocket. Devin does not have the same evasive style as Barboza nor does he possess his power. He won’t be able to do the same things he did to defeat Ramírez.
