Ryan Garcia sums up Keyshawn Davis’ decision to pull out of Devin Haney world title fight

Keyshawn Davis pulled out of an in-demand showdown with WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney last week, and now Haney’s most fierce rival and fellow welterweight ruler Ryan Garcia has offered his thoughts on that decision to withdraw from the bout.

Davis was vocal about his ambition to face Haney when named as the Californian’s mandatory challenger and it seemed as though the fight was all but confirmed when the bout went to purse bids, as Top Rank won the rights to promote the event.

However, it was then revealed that Davis, who was set to earn around $2 million for the contest, had made the decision to withdraw due to the belief that he was being underpaid.

Speaking to FightHype, Garcia admitted that he was ‘disappointed’ upon hearing the news and labelled Davis as a ‘big talker.’

“I was disappointed in that. I mean, I think that is a clear chance to have one of those wins that sets you up for big, huge paydays. The two-million or whatever he got offered was already more than he has ever made before, so what exactly are you looking for? For you to be overpaid?

“I think that everybody has to go through certain fights and key moments to get them to the top. I think that he wants to go a different route, I think that he possibly started realising that he might have bitten off more than he can chew for that price range. 

“I don’t think that, for him, it made sense but it just shows you that a lot of people are big talkers – they don’t really want to do it, when it comes down to it.”

Haney is now being mentioned for a potential unification with newly-crowned IBF world titleholder Liam Paro, which could see Haney fight on Australian soil for a third occasion, four years on from his two victories over George Kambosos Jr. in Melbourne.