Devin Haney discussed many topics on the latest episode of "Boxing with Chris Mannix," but the most interesting thing he talked about was his budding rivalry with fellow youngster Ryan Garcia.
When asked to identify his current biggest rival, Haney pointed to Garcia without hesitation.
"That's the fight that the fans would love to see," Haney said. "We're both 21 years old, we're both making crazy noise, we fought in amateurs multiple times. Everything just adds up. It makes it a huge fight."
The two fighters reportedly faced each other six times as amateurs. Garcia claims they split those bouts, but Haney wasn't having any of it.
"I beat him every time," Haney said with a sly grin. "Don't believe anything he says."
Haney made headlines back in April after Garcia tweeted out a screen shot of a text sent by Haney, saying "Ima f— u up just letting u know."
Haney's text may not seem too friendly, but he said he holds a massive amount of respect for Garcia as a fighter.
"Every fight was competitive," Haney said of the amateur meetings with Garcia. "None of the fights were easy. Ryan's always been good, so that's why I'm not surprised at the noise he's making. The people that ask me about him, I always say that he's good. I've always said that, because I know his skillset, his crazy amateur experience, a crazy amount of national titles. I knew one day he would be big."
Haney desperately wanted to fight Garcia after Garcia's first-round KO of Francisco Fonseca back in February, but he might first have to deal with a mandatory challenge of his WBC lightweight against Javier Fortuna.
Either way, Haney isn't too worried about who he fights, or even whether there's a crowd watching, so long as it happens soon.
"That would be crazy," Haney said of the possibility of fighting without spectators. "Of course, if I had to fight in the back yard I would. I'm a fighter. I love to fight. It would be just like sparring, but for the money and it's going to go on paper. I feel like I may fight better. You never know. But wherever it is, I'll be willing to fight anybody."