WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney (pictured) has an undefeated record of 31 victories with 15 KOs and is one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters in the sport right now. Aged twenty five, Devin has defeated Jorge Linares, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Joseph Diaz, George Kambosos, Regis Prograis and Vasyl Lomachenko, with the latter fight being a very narrow win over a future Hall of Fame. Haney moved to Las Vegas with his father when he was a child. The first time he entered a gym was when he was seven years old. His father took him after a school fight and told him that there he would find more boys who wanted to box. During his time as amateur Devin won seven national championships in the United States and built a record of 130-8, becoming the youngest boxer to win the World Youth Championship in Nevada.
He debuted as pro in an unusual way, since his team decided to get a very early start to his paid career in Mexico. The State of California denied him the license at 17 years old, so he went to fight in Tijuana. On March 4, 2017, Haney defeated Mexico's Maximino Toala by knockout in the fourth round, in a performance which demonstrated his potential.
On May 25, 2019 he stepped up his competition a level with a win over the previously unbeaten Xolisani Ndongeni of South Africa, a bout which Haney dominated.
Haney won the WBC secondary lightweight title over Zaur Abdullaev in September 2019. He defended it four times. Then he captured the true world championship by defeating George Kambosos in 2022. After defending his crown on two occasions, against Kambosos in a rematch and then against Lomachenko, he decided to move up to the 140-pound division, where he defeated the. Title holder Regis Prograis by a wide margin.
Now as a two-time champion, he finds himself on the verge of a great battle against Garcia, a rival whom he already faced 6 times as an amateur.
As for Garcia, his large social media presence made him one of the most followed characters in the boxing industry. The young man from Los Alamitos California, is blessed with charisma, hand speed and and punching power that has positioned him as a fan favorite. After a successful amateur career, Garcia is on the verge of the most important fight of his career, a world title opportunity against Haney, a rival he has already faced 6 times as an amateur dividing 3 and 3 wins each.
Garcia got his first notable pro win at super featherweight in 2018, knocking out Fernando Vargas in the first round. Two months later he defeated Jayson Velez via wide unanimous decision. In 2019, he moved up to the lightweight division to knock out the tough Romero Duno in one round.
García at that time 21-0, then defeated former Olympic champion Luke Campbell by knockout in the seventh round, to win the WBC interim lightweight title in January 2021 in Dallas, Texas. It was not an easy win as Cambell knocked down Garcia in the second round. But Garcia got up and gradually recovered to regain control of the fight.
After two more wins, Garcia stepped up to face Gervonta "Tank" Davis, a former 130-pound champion who has won several secondary belts, in a huge fight that saw him get stopped by Davis in round seven. Garcia returned last December with a solid win over Oscar Duarte at junior welterweight, and now is headed towards Saturday's big opportunity in Brooklyn, New York.
