Devin Haney will retain his WBC 140-pound title after he suffered his first defeat.

The outcome of Friday’s weigh-in left Haney’s reign protected versus Ryan Garcia, who was 3.2 pounds above the 140-pound limit. A deal was reached to allow the fight to move forward, though without the WBC title at stake.

Garcia (24-1, 20 knockouts) scored three knockdowns en route to a majority decision victory Saturday evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Haney, No. 1 at 140, was down in rounds seven, ten and eleven en route to his first career blemish.

The saving grace for Haney (31-1, 15 KOs)—as it relates to his title reign—was the decision to still make weight. Doing so maintained his current WBC beltholder status.

“Congratulations to Ryan GarcÌa defying all obstacles and winning a huge fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman posted on X after the fight. “Congratulations to Devin Haney for showing his huge heart and class.

Just as in [Diego] Corrales vs [Jose Luis] Castillo 2 , with the challenger not making weight, Haney remains WBC champion.”

Congratulations to Ryan GarcÌa defying all obstacles and winning a huge fight. Congratulations to Devin Haney for showing his huge heart and class.
Just as in Corrales vs Castillo 2 , with the challenger not making weight, Haney remains WBC champion.

— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) April 21, 2024

Specifically, the declaration is consistent with the WBC Synthesized Rules For Championship Bouts.

Per WC-3 (b) covering weigh-ins:

“If the challenger exceeds the official weight limit in his last weigh-in attempt, the champion shall retain their title and the boxers have the option of conducting the bout as a non-title bout.”

The ruling differs from other sanctioning bodies such as the WBO, whose by-laws carry stricter terms for non-title bouts.

Haney stripped down to come in right at the 140-pound limit, as supervised by the New York State Athletic Commission.

Garcia never bothered to make the contracted weight, at least in the sense of a final fight week weight-cut. He was too far over the limit for the NYSAC to bother with an allotment period to shed the extra weight.

During the post-fight press conference, Garcia revealed he will campaign at welterweight moving forward. He weighed 143 pounds ahead of a December 2 knockout win over Oscar Duarte in Houston, Texas. Their bout was marketed as a WBA Gold 140-pound title fight; the contracted weight was adjusted before the weigh-in.

While Garcia picked up the biggest win of his career—and in a major upset—he remains without a major title.

Haney still holds the WBC title he won when he dethroned Regis Prograis last December 9 in San Francisco, California. He is expected to next defend versus mandatory challenger Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a 30-year-old southpaw from Spain.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JakeNDaBox

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