Henry Garcia: “Oscar Duarte Is Better Than Devin Haney”

Henry Garcia says he rates lightweight contender Oscar Duarte as a better fighter than Devin Haney and will beat him. Henry’s son, Ryan Garcia, knocked out Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs) in the eighth round last year on December 2nd in a fight where both men fought with bombs.

Henry says he doubts Haney will choose to fight a big puncher like Duarte in his return, which is a reasonable thought.

The way Ryan hurt Haney repeatedly in a 12-round majority decision loss on April 20, there’s no way he’ll be facing the big puncher when he returns to the ring. Devin’s father, Bill Haney, will carefully select his next opponent and make sure that the boy cannot pick up where Ryan left off.

Duarte, 28, looked impressive in his last fight, knocking out former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz in the ninth round on April 27. Duarte will fight Botirzhon Akhmedov this month in a 12-round bout on November 16 on Latino Night at the Venue in Riyadh.

“I think Oscar Duarte is better than Devin Haney. If Oscar Duarte fights Haney, he will knock him down; maybe we can take him out again,” said Henry Garcia speaking to Fighthype, talking about Oscar Duarte who was Ryan Garcia’s worst enemy.

It would be interesting if Haney chose Duarte in his next fight just to show the boxing world that he has the guts to take on a strong fighter after what he went through against Kingry. Haney made himself look weak by choosing to charge Ryan with battery for his loss because that compounded the situation.

“Ryan told me, and Ryan doesn’t really reveal things to me. He said, ‘Hey, Dad. That Oscar Duarte had fists I didn’t hear about these other guys. So when he tells me that, he is opening up to me,” said Henry.

“Mark my words. When Devin comes back, there’s no way he’s going to fight someone so powerful. There is no way,” said Henry.

There is definitely little chance that Haney will dare to fight someone strong if he returns because the chances of him getting hurt are high. Even before the fight with Ryan, Haney will be vulnerable.