It was a strange juxtaposition Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On one side, Devin Haney promised to make his opponent pay for his antics throughout fight week. Across from him was 25-year-old Ryan Garcia, promising to bring death to his longtime rival while virtually everyone was questioning his mental readiness to fight.
There was no death, and Garcia, labeled "mentally fragile" by many, delivered an upset for the ages and proved the critics wrong.
Garcia put an exclamation point on his pre-fight words by delivering a masterpiece in one of the most polarizing performances in recent memory, scoring three knockdowns of Devin Haney en route to a majority decision.