Boxing media caught up with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn immediately following Devin Haney’s loss to Ryan Garcia to get his take on what transpired. Hearn, who was obviously backing Haney here, reacts to the fight and its aftermath along with plans for Haney going forward (at the time Hearn was under the impression Haney’s belt would go vacant, vai de bet:which turns out not to be the case).

Hearn on his run-in with Henry Garcia

“‘Fuck you, you piece of shit,’ or something like that. And I said ‘Fuck you, you piece of shit.’ And then he said ‘we beat Luke Campbell, we beat Devin Haney, who else you got?’ And I said ‘Boots Ennis’ and he gulped and then walked towards me and shook my hand said ‘I’m sorry.’ I said ‘I accept your apology.’ It’s a very emotional game, especially when it’s your son.”

On if he believes the referee should’ve stopped the fight at any point

“No, but I thought Haney bluffed the referee really well in the [seventh] round. Like, he shouldn’t of stopped it but he could’ve stopped it and that was a massive, heavy knockdown. And he deserves a lot of respect, Devin. I thought he showed a lot of heart but he got caught in the first round, never really recovered and just didn’t think he boxed well, really.”

On the effect of Ryan Garcia weighing over 3lbs over for the weigh-in

“It wasn’t the three pounds, it was what they weighed tonight...but it is what it is and he didn’t make championship weight but he produced a great performance.”

On what most impressed him about Garcia

“Just his power and the fact I was just watching him between rounds, he wasn’t really looking at Derrick James. He was dancing around, he was singing. Maybe this is the future.”