Former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney has issued a mandate to Ryan Garcia ahead of their respective fights. The pair is expected to face off against Jose Ramirez and Rolly Romero on May 2nd at Times Square in New York in a triple-header event, including Teofimo Lopez against Arnold Barboza Jr, featuring on the card.

Haney and Garcia have been at odds with each other since their first fight in April last year. Despite being the underdog, Garcia embarrassed Haney by dropping him thrice to a majority decision victory. In the aftermath of the fight, Garcia popped for the banned substance Ostarine. This resulted in him getting banned from the sport of boxing for a year. 

Additionally, the loss was overturned into a no-contest. However, Haney wasn’t satisfied with Garcia’s punishment, so he proceeded to sue the Victorville native, alleging fraud, battery, and breach of contract. Since then, with an intervention from His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, the duo has reached a deal to have a rematch, which will result in the lawsuit being dropped.

The pair is expected to fight later this year in October, given that both boxers win their respective fights in May. In the meantime, Haney appeared in an interview with Naji of Cigar Talk, where he gave Garcia an ultimatum. Initially, when asked for his thoughts about the lawsuit, Haney refused to talk, stating, “I’m not going to say too much on it. My team did that.”

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“But at the end of the day, we get the rematch in October, and so everything worked out,” he added before issuing Garcia an ultimatum. “We do a fight, then it won’t be no lawsuit. We’ll drop the lawsuit.” In the meantime, ‘The Dream’ has revealed what he has been up to during his time out of the ring.

Devin Haney has been watching the Ryan Garcia fight

Devin Haney has been closely looking at his mistakes in the Ryan Garcia fight since their dramatic bout last year. The bitter experience left a mark on Haney, who was dropped three times by Garcia’s vicious left hook. Now preparing for a comeback against Jose Ramirez, Haney admits he’s been studying the Garcia fight to fix his flaws.

“Over the last few months, we’ve been looking at the Garcia fight and some of the obvious mistakes I made and perfecting those so I can be a better fighter,” Haney told The Ring. With a potential rematch looming, Haney is focused on growth and redemption. “Seems like I haven’t had a victory in a little while now,” he said. “I’m just looking to go in there and win.”

That being said, Ryan Garcia has to repeat his performance against Devin Haney to prove he is the better fighter between the two. But for now, it appears that they are focused on their current opponents. Who do you think wins the rematch?