Ryan Garcia has skill set to beat Devin Haney. Does he have mindset?

(Editor’s notice: This story first printed at Boxing Junkie, a part of the USA TODAY Community.)

Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have loads in frequent however couldn’t be extra completely different.

The fighters, who meet for Haney’s 140-pound title on pay-per-view Saturday in Brooklyn, are each 25 and gifted. They’re each from California. They each had robust novice careers, which included six fights in opposition to each other. Every of them gained thrice.

They usually each have develop into fashionable skilled fighters, with thousands and thousands of {dollars} of their financial institution accounts as proof of that.

So the place are they completely different? The place can we begin?

Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) is a two-division titleholder who has climbed onto pound-for-pound lists after a sequence of spectacular victories over top-tier opponents, together with a surprising shutout of Regis Prograis to win his belt in December.

The native of San Francisco has been profitable partly due to his psychological toughness and self-discipline, which have allowed him to take full benefit of expertise. He may develop into No. 1 pound-for-pound sooner or later.

Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) is no less than as fast as Haney – in all probability faster – and he undoubtedly punches more durable than his rival, as his knockout proportion signifies. He additionally has a number of important victories, most notably knockouts of Luke Campbell and Javier Fortuna.

Nonetheless, in contrast to Haney, he failed the one time he confronted a pound-for-pound-level opponent. Gervonta Davis stopped him with a physique shot within the seventh spherical.

And, maybe extra considerably, Garcia, who has acknowledged psychological well being points, appears to be as emotionally fragile as Haney is secure and difficult. Many consider that weak point might be his undoing once they step by the ropes on Saturday evening.

The social media star behaves erratically, taking weird photographs at celebrities or claiming to know who killed rapper Tupac Shakur, to call two examples. He additionally posted a picture of himself smoking what gave the impression to be marijuana solely seven weeks earlier than the struggle, which he admitted was a mistake.

A purple flag first went up for me the next day, at a information convention in Los Angeles, the place he acknowledged that he’s flawed and that it may be tough for a 25-year-old to deal with stardom.

“Generally the load of the world feels prefer it’s on my shoulders,” he stated.

That undoubtedly is true however, on the similar time, its a wierd remark given that almost all fighters attempt to mission power, not weak point within the lead as much as a struggle.

Haney gave the impression to be honest when he requested Garcia repeatedly on the information convention whether or not Garcia deliberate to point out up for the struggle. Garcia by no means responded, which was unusual.

Is Garcia in bother earlier than he steps into the ring?

Effectively, Haney is a few 6½-1 favourite (common of a number of shops), which is a large unfold given Garcia’s pedigree. The oddsmakers clearly consider Haney’s mixture of capability and laser focus might be an excessive amount of for a mentally weak challenger.

Garcia may idiot us. Once more, he too, has capability and his personal pure items. And he has overcome obstacles up to now.

For instance, he received up from a knockdown to cease the succesful Campbell, demonstrating that he might be resilient. And he returned from a tough 15-month layoff – to cope with his psychological challenges – to ship robust performances in opposition to Emmanuel Tagoe and Fortuna.

Stranger issues than a peculiar, seemingly distracted contender taking down a champion have occurred in boxing.

For his half, Garcia insists that he has improved as a fighter after coaching with the respects Derrick James. And he advised that there’s technique to his insanity.

“You’ll be able to’t deny all of the work that Derrick and I’ve put in both,” he stated Wednesday. “My approach is healthier, my palms are up, the chin is down. What do you all must say? The social media is all simply noise. I publish one thing after which folks assume I’m loopy.

“I do know what I’m doing.”

We’ll see.

This is a gigantic problem for him. Once more, Haney has all the flexibility on the planet and is as locked in as anybody in boxing. He’s rolling. We will solely guess what Garcia goes to deliver into the ring.

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