A showcase of two rising stars takes place on Saturday as WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney makes his first title defense against former interim title holder Ryan Garcia in a 12-round boxing main event. Their showdown tops the main card (9 p.m. ET) from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Haney is the former unified lightweight champion who vacated those belts in order to move up a weight class. In his debut at junior welterweight, he outclassed veteran contender Regis Prograis last December in a 12-round decision for the vacant WBC title. Garcia is the former WBC interim lightweight champion who is now competing for his first undisputed major world title.
Haney is a -700 favorite (risk $700 to win $100), while Garcia is priced at +500 in the latest Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia odds. The over/under for total rounds completed is 10.5, with the over favored at -290 and the under priced at +220. Before locking in your picks for Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney, make sure you check out the boxing predictions and betting advice from SportsLine analyst Peter Kahn.
Kahn is a true boxing insider who has his finger on the pulse of what's going on inside and outside of the ring. He has managed numerous world champions and currently manages 20 fighters through his company, Fight Game Advisors. Kahn won the 2022 Boxing Writers Association of America Cus D'Amato Manager of the Year award and was named to the 2023 Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
Kahn is uncanny when it comes to picking fights. He is an astounding 49-13 on his last 62 boxing picks on SportsLine, returning nearly $4,000 to $100 bettors. Anyone who has followed him has already seen massive returns.
Now, with Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia on deck, Kahn has studied the matchup from every angle and released confident predictions for the fight. You can only see those picks at SportsLine.
Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia previewHaney (31-0, 15 KOs) has long been considered a prodigal talent who has the potential to be one of boxing's biggest stars of this generation. He has been training since age 7 and was so eager to turn professional that he memorably took a handful of fights in Mexico, where he could get professionally sanctioned before he turned 18. Now 25, the San Francisco native won his first major boxing title in September 2019 when he captured the vacant WBC lightweight title.
He defended it four times before becoming the division's unified champion with a victory in June over George Kambosos, who he subsequently defeated in a rematch. Although he has the speed, footwork and outward charisma worthy of a star, Haney's critics point to a relatively meager slate of opponents and a low stoppage rate. He took a step up in competition last May against former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. He earned the nod via decision, though many observers believed Lomachenko deserved the nod.
Haney made his light welterweight debut before an adoring hometown crowd in San Francisco at the Chase Center last December. He outmaneuvered what many expected to be a difficult opponent in Prograis, a southpaw who has lethal power.
Now, he turns his attention to Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), who could already be at a turning point in his young career. The 25-year-old Californian, similar to Haney, has long been on the radar of boxing observers because of the looks and charm that mirror those of his boxing idol, Oscar De La Hoya. Although Garcia failed to reach numerous milestones that De La Hoya achieved, he still managed to win 15 amateur championships and entered the pro ranks with plenty of fanfare.
Moreover, De La Hoya became one of his promoters, and perhaps his most famous supporter is multi-time world champion Canelo Alvarez, who has both trained with Garcia and has been at ringside for most of the young boxer's big fights. Last April, Garcia landed his long-coveted fight with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. Garcia appeared tentative and outclassed in the non-title fight before Davis won with a seventh-round stoppage. Garcia rebounded with an eighth-round stoppage of Oscar Duarte in December. See who to back at SportsLine.
How to make Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney picksKahn likes the fight to go under 10.5 rounds at a price of +220 in the latest boxing odds. He's also made the call on a method-of-victory prop and a confident money-line pick. You can only
