Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney could be on the verge of an upset loss in their May shared card in New York’s Times Square. Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) fights Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz while Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) goes up against former WBC/WBO 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez in the Turki Al-Sheikh card.

Layoff Impact

Ryan and Haney chose the wrong opponents to fight a 13-month layoff. 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) and former WBA light welterweight champion Pitbull Cruz are not the right opponents for any fighter to face after a year of no action. Those two would be difficult for Garcia and Devin, even if they were quick.

If Kingry and Haney were sparring and could hit a breadbasket, facing Ramirez and Cruz wouldn’t be much of a problem. It is not. They are all weak fighters who have broken down in battle.

Garcia-Cruz will fight at a catchweight of 143 or 144 at welterweight, perfect for the powerful 5’4″ Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs). In Pitbull’s two fights at 140 against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, he was hitting with a lot of power.

Rayo should have not used his new Lomachenko-esque team to fend off Cruz’s constant pressure. Kingry does not have the ability to move, and is forced to fight for three minutes in each turn at close range. If Ryan fails to hurt Pitbull, he will be in trouble.

50-50 Battle

Turki has given fans two great 50-50 fights with his Garcia-Cruz & Haney-Ramirez doubleheader in Times Square. If he’s good Ryan and Devin can lose their fights, that’s great. Al-Sheikh is already planning to fight Garcia-Haney in October in Riyadh. This fight will be ugly if one or both of them lose their track in May.

This is a better opportunity for PPV fans than if the two were fed tomato cans, as is the custom for heavyweight fighters who come to be fired.

Jose Ramirez lost the reigning undefeated light welterweight champion Arnold Barboza Jr. and the 10th election was agreed on November 16th. That war was competitive.

If Barboza Jr. if he had been steady, he would not have won because Ramirez worked him when he was in the pocket. Devin doesn’t have the sneaky style of Barboza, nor does he have his power. He won’t be able to do the same thing he did to fight Ramirez.