Devin Haney remains World Champion despite Ryan Garcia loss
- Apr 25, 2024
- 1 min read
Devin Haney remains WBC Super-Lightweight World champion despite losing to Ryan Garcia on Saturday night.
President of the World Boxing Council (WBC) Mauricio Sulaimán has confirmed that Devin Haney will remain WBC Super-Lightweight World champion despite losing to Ryan Garcia on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York. In a podcast reflecting on the fight itself, Sulaimán explained the why Haney is allowed to keep his World title.
Under the WBC rules, if the WBC champion does not make championship weight, and his opponent does, the champion is immediately stripped and the title is on the line for the challenger only. One the other hand:
“If the challenger exceeds the official weight limit in his last weigh-in attempt, the champion shall retain their title and the boxers have the option of conducting the bout as a non-title bout.”
In short, because Ryan Garcia was the challenger, and the one who missed championship weight, Devin Haney maintains his status as WBC champion. Sulaimán continued to explain that the precedent for this rule was set during the rematch between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. Castillo weighed-in way above the Lightweight limit and won but Corrales, the champion, made championship weight and was allowed to remain as champion.
Prior to Haney vs Garcia, the WBC called for Haney to defend his title against mandatory challenger Sandor Martin. If Haney remains at Super-Lightweight, he will be expected to defend his title against Martin next.
Comments