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California December 8 2018 Los Angeles Fight Night Action Femeke Hermans Claressa Shields Los Angeles California USA Copyright: xTomxHoganx Best14118_Hoganphotos
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/imago1031794587h.jpg?width=600)
via Imago
California December 8 2018 Los Angeles Fight Night Action Femeke Hermans Claressa Shields Los Angeles California USA Copyright: xTomxHoganx Best14118_Hoganphotos
Did Devin Haney make a huge mistake taking up the Ryan Garcia fight? After all, he was knocked down three times in a single night which ultimately led to a Majority Decision loss for ‘The Dream’. The cold and calculated undefeated boxer had no answers for the onslaught that Garcia brought inside the ring. But, the 25-year-old boxer was handed a saving grace. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) found Garcia guilty of taking the banned substance Ostarine, and declared his win against Haney a ‘no contest’. Alas, ‘the Dream was vindicated! But the damage was already done. The fight made him lose face in the industry and damaged the possibility of securing potentially lucrative fights. Remember how Haney’s promoter, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, decided to not bid for the fight against his mandatory challenger Sandor Martin? However, throughout the entire fiasco and online slander, there was one woman who stood by Haney’s side, Claressa Shields!
Off late, Shields came down hard against a fan on social media who claimed that ‘King Ry’s’ win against Devin Haney was legitimate. But an obvious fallacy in the person’s logic had to be called out. Garcia coming in over the weight limit for the fight was not the issue, but something glaringly obvious was.
Your logic has one big massive flaw!
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An internet user who goes by the name of @NukeUndisputed on X, wanted to make a case for how having a significant weight advantage in the fight did not guarantee a victory. In light of the matter being discussed, Ryan Garcia was roped in. You might remember how Garcia came in at 143.2lbs, 3.2lbs above the required weight limit. Taking this example as a case study, he went on to cite a few recent instances where a boxer with a significant weight advantage over his opponent lost. Among them, Ryan Garcia’s brother Sean Garcia who got stopped by Amado Vargas in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round bout, also got a mention.
“Ryan Garcia’s younger brother Sean Garcia copied Ryan’s plan of missing weight by 3lbs against Armando Vargas and just got stopped. Gio Cabrera missed weight by 2lbs and got stopped by William Zepeda. Danny Jacobs came in 2lbs over Shane Mosley Jr. and got stopped. The idea that weight is why Devin Haney lost to Ryan Garcia when Devin is supposed to be superiorly “skilled” is incorrect. He lost because he wasn’t good enough,” the user wrote on X.
But Shields pointed out one obvious flaw in his long X post. Unlike Ryan Garcia, other fighters weren’t on PEDs. “Hahaha he lost cause Ryan was on PEDs wtf is wrong with you,” the 2-time undisputed champion wrote on X.
Hahaha he lost cause Ryan was on PEDs wtf is wrong with you
— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) July 9, 2024
Garcia’s A-sample as well as B-sample before the fight against Devin Haney came back positive. Subsequently, Garcia was given a one-year suspension, forfeiture of his million official contract purse, and a win against Haney overturned, as punishment by NYSAC for failing the drug tests. The problem was only compounded by the recent expulsion order from the WBC due to his recent Islamophobic and racist remarks.
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What’s your perspective on:
Is the backlash against Devin Haney after Garcia's loss justified, or just plain unfair?
Have an interesting take?
Meanwhile, the former junior-middleweight champion, tired of his social antics, urged ‘King Ry’ to take some accountability for his actions.
Go look in the mirror!
Safe to say that Ryan Garcia is down in the dumps. But, despite his long list of penalizations, he seems to be attacking anybody who doesn’t agree with his narrative. Sometimes, his attacks are downright crass. Such was the case when Shields was subjected to nasty DMs filled with crude remarks from Ryan Garcia. “I’m saying you said my mom don’t got cancer crack head. Are you f*king an idiot. Dumb a*s crack head read b*tch. Screenshot b*tch.” One of Garcia’s DMs read.
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In the mood to give an appropriate reality check to Garcia, Shields wrote on X, “Man @RyanGarcia you are a piece of shit! You use your platform to lie and mislead the people. It’s sad. And now that your roller coaster is going down you are pointing the finger at everyone else! Go look in the mirror! You are the problem! You are The reason. Stop using…”
Is ‘GWOAT’ justified in her actions to torch Garcia over his long list of misfortunes? Or does Garcia deserve every bit of criticism he has been getting? Let us know in the comment section below.
Debate
Is the backlash against Devin Haney after Garcia's loss justified, or just plain unfair?