Welcome to Midnight Mania!
It’s only been a few days since Devin Haney’s shocking upset loss to Ryan Garcia (watch here), which saw “King” drop Haney multiple times en route to a decision victory. In the immediate aftermath, Haney’s team issued a brief statement that he “fought like a champion” and did not suffer a rumored broken jaw.
Given a few days to process, however, Haney has taken to social media to request a rematch. According to Haney, Garcia’s substantial weight miss was a factor in his loss, and he still wants a fair fight.
“First off I wanna say … Alhamdulillah Allah is the perfect planner and I trust his plan no matter what,” Haney wrote. “I came up short but this boxing, and if anyone knows me they know that I am a true competitor, and always wanted to test my skills against the best fighters in the world.
“Ryan, despite the circumstances was victorious that night and that’s fine. I do feel like weight played a role in it but only Allah knows. I would love to run it back and give the fans a FAIR fight within an agreed weight.”
Famously, Haney and Garcia fought as amateurs six times, evenly splitting their contests. Given their history, massive payouts, and a legitimate gripe regarding the weight miss, Haney theoretically has a solid chance at scoring another professional bout versus Garcia. However, Garcia is interested in moving up in weight class, which could be an issue, and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya outright shut down his request in the comments.
“Good luck with Eddie but there will not be a rematch,” De La Hoya wrote. “Good luck in your career and good luck with Eddie a European promoter trying to make it in the US.”
Insomnia
This crusty 2013 clip has me fully convinced Sean O’Malley is the man to beat Garcia. Zero doubt! Book it!
Inject Jiri Prochazka vs. Dricus Du Plessis into my veins. Just two dudes determined to prove they hit the hardest and have the sturdiest chin!
Dricus du Plessis says that Jiri Prochazka “walks around lighter” than he does, and mentioned that he should move down to middleweight:
“I think Prochazka needs to go down to [middleweight]. I saw Prochazka’s weight in the PI and I think he’s too small for [light heavyweight].… pic.twitter.com/jxvsjwuDgm
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 24, 2024
Featherweight action fighters Nathaniel Wood and Daniel Pineda will take some lumps out of each other in July.
We need to give “Rampage” and Paulo Costa an ethnicity quiz on various popular fighters, this is comedy.
You never know where Mike Perry trash talk will end up.
Some online jawing from Petr Yan and Marlon Vera:
A slick little setup from Slava Borshchev:
Slips, rips, and KO clips
A name to look out for on the next Contenders Series season?
This spinning backfist landed with quite a thunk.
Ragdoll physics on this brutal knockout:
Random Land
Midnight Music:
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.