Devin Haney suffered a big upset on Saturday night as he was beaten by bitter rival Ryan Garcia, but he has been given a shock title boost following the loss.
Garcia proved plenty of doubters wrong in the bout at the Barclays Center, dropping his opponent three times on his way to earning a majority decision win.
‘King Ry’ was ineligible to win Haney’s WBC super-lightweight title after missing weight by 3.2lbs, meaning he doesn’t become world champion despite the win.
It was expected that Haney would be stripped of his title and that the belt would become vacant after the loss, as has been the case in the past for a number of world champions when they have lost in non-title contests.
It looks like that won’t be the case though, after WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman revealed on social media that ‘The Dream’ will keep hold of his world title, citing another contest from nearly 20 years ago as the reason why.
“Congratulations to Ryan Garcia 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.”
One fan then replied to Sulaiman claiming that he was changing the rules by not stripping Haney of the belt, with the WBC president responding.
“How about you learning the rules ? They are public and have always been. Castillo didn’t make weight vs Castillo II , Corrales remained as champion.”
Haney’s next move after losing to Garcia is currently unclear, but the fact he will remain as world champion is certainly a boost.
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