In one of the most entertaining fights between two of boxing’s young stars this year, Ryan Garcia defeated Devin Haney by majority decision Saturday night at a packed Barclays Center in New York City.
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) entered the fight surrounded by controversy, erratic comments and questions about his readiness and fitness to fight. To top that, Garcia was 3.2 pounds over the weight limit the day before the bout.
But as soon as the bell rang, Garcia showed his speed and power and wobbled Haney with his trademark left hook to the chin. Haney recovered well, and won the next four rounds in all three judges’ scorecards, but Garcia took over the fight in Rounds 6 and 7, connecting 28 power punches while Haney only landed five. Garcia outlanded Haney the rest of the way 50 to 34 and knocked him down three times (Rounds 7, 10 and 11).
“I shouldn’t have put too much pressure on myself to stop him, because every time I hurt him, I went crazy and I couldn’t stop him,” Garcia said after the fight. “I think the ref [Harvey Dock] should’ve stopped the fight. [Haney] was really hurt. I felt bad, I even looked at [Bill Haney, Devin’s father and trainer] to stop the fight.”
The loss sends Haney out of the top 10 from his previous spot at No. 6, opening the door for Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez to make his debut in ESPN’s P4P rankings. Garcia received a few votes but not enough yet to crack the top 10.
“After the way Garcia was able to break through Haney’s defense, and the tremendous power he displayed with three knockdowns, Garcia cracks my top 10,” ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger, who ranked Garcia at No. 9 on his list, said. “Haney looked untouchable against Regis Prograis. And while Garcia had a weight advantage, he still was able to land flush on Haney’s chin with surprising frequency.”
Timothy Bradley Jr., a two-division champion, current ESPN boxing analyst and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, left Haney out of his list after the loss.
“Haney was beaten by a fighter who admittedly was drinking and smoking weeks out before their match,” Bradley said. “Someone who was out partying nights before their battle. Someone that has never participated in a championship contest. Haney is talented but is no longer a P4P fighter at the moment.”
Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff, shares its votes.
More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through April 24.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Errol Spence Jr., July 29
NEXT FIGHT: Aug. 3 vs. Israil Madrimov
2. NAOYA INOUE
Previous ranking: No. 2
Previous ranking: No. 2RECORD: 26-0, 23 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO10) Marlon Tapales, Dec. 26
NEXT FIGHT: May 6 vs. Luis Nery
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 21-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Daniel Dubois, Aug. 26
NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Tyson Fury
4. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 60-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jermell Charlo, Sept. 30
NEXT FIGHT: May 4 vs. Jaime Munguia
5. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 22-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Lyndon Arthur, Dec. 23
NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Artur Beterbiev
6. ARTUR BETERBIEV 
Previous ranking: No. 7
Previous ranking: No. 7RECORD: 20-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Callum Smith, Jan. 13
NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Dmitry Bivol
7. GERVONTA DAVIS Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22
NEXT FIGHT: June 15 vs. Frank Martin
8. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 21-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edwin De Los Santos, Nov. 16
NEXT FIGHT: July 6 vs. Artem Harutyunyan
9. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 34-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Francis Ngannou, Oct. 28
NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Oleksandr Usyk
10. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ Previous ranking: Not ranked
RECORD: 19-0, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Flyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Sunny Edwards, Dec. 16
NEXT FIGHT: June 29 vs. Juan Francisco Estrada
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote awarding 10 points, a second-place vote awarding nine points, and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking, then the one with the most votes at that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (20), David Benavidez (11), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Devin Haney (4), Ryan Garcia (3), Emanuel Navarrete (3), Errol Spence Jr. (2), Junto Nakatani (2).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Usyk, 5. Davis, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9.Benavidez, 10. Haney
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3: Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Davis, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lopez Jr.
Coppinger: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Garcia, 10. Haney
Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Stevenson, 7. Alvarez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Nakatani, 10. Lopez
Raskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Stevenson, 7. Davis, 8. Benavidez, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Rodriguez
Trejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Garcia
Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Garcia
Osuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Fury, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Stevenson
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Davis, 5. Fury, 6. Lopez, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Bivol, 10. Beterbiev
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Spence, 10. Stevenson
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Davis, 7. Benavidez, 8. Navarrete, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Stevenson, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Lopez, 9. Benavidez, 10. Rodriguez
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Davis, 10. Lomachenko
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Stevenson, 10. Rodriguez
Delgado Averhof: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Stevenson
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Crawford (15), Inoue (3)
Second place: Inoue (14), Crawford (3), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Usyk (10), Alvarez (4), Bivol (2), Inoue (1), Stevenson (1)
Fourth place: Bivol (5), Usyk (4), Alvarez (4), Beterbiev (4), Davis (1)
Fifth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (4), Beterbiev (3), Usyk (2), Davis (1), Fury (1)
Sixth place: Beterbiev (8), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Fury (1), Lopez (1)
Seventh place: Davis (7), Usyk (2), Stevenson (2), Rodriguez (2), Bivol (1), Alvarez (1), Beterbiev (1), Benavidez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Fury (5), Stevenson (3), Rodriguez (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (1), Davis (1), Benavidez (1), Navarrete (1)
Ninth place: Rodriguez (4), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Lopez (2), Benavidez (2), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1), Fury (1), Spence (1), Garcia (1), Nakatani (1)
10th place: Haney (4), Stevenson (3), Rodriguez (3), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Beterbiev (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1), Garcia (1)
