Tony Bellew thinks Ryan Garcia played his role like a movie star: “He should be in Martin Scorsese’s next big hit”
Former world champion Tony Bellew highlighted the factors that led to Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) defeating Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) last weekend, discussing their weight difference and the referee’s controversial performance.
25-year-old Garcia’s erratic behaviour on social media throughout the build-up meant he was largely overlooked before entering the Barclays Center, New York, last Saturday, April 20.
Former WBC world cruiserweight champion, Tony Bellew, suggests that this was all a ploy, with the troubled Californian producing an unexpected performance, dropping his favoured opponent three times en route to a majority decision victory.
On talkSPORT, Bellew said: “Not gonna lie, I think it’s quite clear that [Garcia] played an absolute blinder. Not gonna lie, he should be in Martin Scorsese’s next big hit.
“I think [Garcia missing weight] tarnishes his win a little bit. I’ve had to make 12stone 7oz coming down from 15 and a half stone, and them boys will have been losing similar amounts of weight.
“The last 3 lbs [of a weight cut] is the hardest part, believe me… You’re dry to the bone. But then, if I’m being totally honest, I think the referee actually saved Devin Haney. I think he had every right to stop him.”
At Friday’s weigh-in, Garcia came in 3 lbs over the super lightweight limit, meaning he was unable to win the WBC title which remains in the possession of Haney.
After the fight, the third man in the ring, Harvey dock, also received his fair share of criticism, with many believing that his decision to deduct a point from Garcia – for punching on the break in the seventh round – was unjust.
Garcia expressed his frustration with the referee too, indicating, like Bellew, that Dock should have stopped the contest when Haney began taking too much punishment.
Now, there seems to be rumours of a potential rematch up at 147 lbs, where both fighters will no doubt be less depleted.