Ryan Garcia insists his showdown with Devin Haney is bigger than any Canelo Alvarez clash, bar a meeting with David Benavidez.
Garcia will challenge Haney for his WBC super lightweight world title at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 20, two weeks before Canelo is set to defend his undisputed super middleweight titles, against an opponent still to be named.
The pair were initially set to meet in Las Vegas, however the bout was moved to New York, due to Premier Boxing Champions [PBC] reserving a venue in Las Vegas for Alvarez on May 4 and MGM Resorts reportedly not content with two major fights in such close proximity to each other.
However, the Mexican star has reportedly cut ties with PBC after completing just one fight of their two-bout agreement and his May 4 date remains up in the air.
Garcia, who came face-to-face with Haney at a press conference in Manhattan on Tuesday, believes their clash would bring more money into Vegas than an Alvarez, unless his faces Benavidez.
“I’m just going to keep it real,” Garcia told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that my fight with Devin is bigger than any fight Canelo can do except maybe against Benavidez.
“Other than that, we will bring in way more money to Vegas.
“We’ll bring in way more high rollers into Vegas.
“It’ll be vibes, culture, everything will be up.
“He could not match this energy. This fight has it. We have a lot of history, so I made those points.
“At the end of the day, I just feel like the bigger fight should be the priority in my eyes.
“Respect to Canelo, I think he’s still the face of boxing, but this young king is coming and I’m coming strong.”
Garcia, who knocked out Oscar Duarte in December, appeared eager to face former amateur rival Haney after he claimed the WBC title with a dominant unanimous decision win over Regis Prograis in December.
But, the 25-year-old switched his attentions to a clash with WBA champion, Rolly Romero after admitting a conversation with Floyd Mayweather Jr swayed his thinking.
With Romero opting to face Isaac Cruz on March 30 in Las Vegas, ‘King Ry’ revisited and then finalised a fight with ‘The Dream’ in what will be his maiden world title clash.
“Floyd said that Rollies didn’t want to do it and that’s why it didn’t happen,” the Californian explained.
“But, Rolly is messed up in my opinion.
“He went from the main event to now the co-main event, making significantly lower amounts of money.
“He played himself.”
