The WBC will order Devin Haney to defend his lightweight title against Ryan Garcia in the coming days, their president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed.
On Saturday night, Garcia knocked out Luke Campbell in a fight that gave him the WBC ‘interim’ belt and position as Haney’s immediate mandatory.
Ed Mulholland/Matchroom
Sulaiman told Ak and Barak on Sirius XM: “First, the WBC always allows three/four days or one week after an event for the fighter to settle down, to enjoy the moment, to celebrate a victory, instead of shooting them immediately a letter of work.
“So we will take a couple of days now we’re starting the year, and next what goes out is the letter to both camps to begin the negotiations for the fight…
“Absolutely when they finish an event you’ve got to give them space, send them a congratulations letter, then let them settle down and then get back to business.
“It’s bad taste to immediately jump with a work letter in my opinion.”
Tom Hogan – Hogan Photos/Golden Boy
Haney, 22, has welcomed the fight with Garcia, also 22, which could be the first of a new era of brilliant battles between young Americans around that weight.
However, Garcia has his eyes on a financially bigger prize.
Despite knowing he would become mandatory for Haney with a win over Campbell, Ryan told talkSPORT.com before the fight that it’s Gervonta Davis he wants.
Garcia reiterated his call-out of Davis post-fight.
Esther Lin/Showtime
He previously told talkSPORT.com: “I’m gonna be quite honest, I wanna fight Gervonta next. That’s who I want. I wanna take on that man.
“I’ve been calling it for a while and that’s the fight. That’s the fight that would make me great.
“That’s the fight that will complete the puzzle that I have put together. That’s who I want and that’s who I’m gonna be striving to get.
“I’m gonna give the people what they want and I’m gonna put a whooping on him – I promise you that.
“Everybody’s scared, everybody fears something about that man.
“And to me it’s gonna be as easy as anything. It’s gonna be as easy as singing my ABCs.
Teofimo Lopez – Twitter
“I promise you that’s the fight that’s gonna shock the world. I’ve been saying it from the beginning, I wanna shock the world.
“That’s who I’m coming after, big, bad ‘Tank’ – the man who hits so hard, the man that crushes people’s face in. That’s the fight that I wanna show everybody who I really am.
“After that I wanna fight Teofimo Lopez or Devin Haney or anybody, I don’t really care after that.
“Nobody matters as much as that fight with ‘Tank’. That’s the main fight.
“I’m looking at the bigger picture. Once I win that, you know what position I’m gonna be in? That’s the chess move to make.
“But, it’s a gamble, like everybody says, the man hits hard and we’ll see in the ring.”
It is unclear what route Garcia will ultimately decide to take, but the WBC’s imminent order should give a strong indication.
