It came out of nowhere, but Devin Haney made sure his warning was received.
"Ima f— u up just letting u know," Haney shot over to Ryan Garcia in a text message that Garcia tweeted out to the masses last week.
A week later and Haney says the motive and timing behind his text warning was simple.
"It's quarantine, you don't have nothing to do but think," Haney told DAZN News on Wednesday, referring to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and having to stay indoors because of it. "Think, think and think, so I was just thinking about (fighting) Ryan Garcia, so I just sent him a text message."
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Haney confronted Garcia in the ring following Garcia's first-round KO of Francisco Fonseca in February and demanded a fight. However, when the pandemic subsides, Haney might have to make a mandatory defense of his WBC lightweight title against Javier Fortuna first.
"Of course, if I had it my way, I would fight Ryan Garcia right off the bat, but I have a mandatory," Haney said. "But as of now, we don't know when this whole deal will be over, so we'll just have to wait and see."
While Haney was recovering from his December shoulder surgery, a fight between Fortuna and Luke Campbell was set for the vacant WBC title on April 17; however, the coronavirus outbreak postponed that fight indefinitely. Despite Haney being reinstated as WBC champion, Campbell is still under the impression that his bout with Fortuna will happen when boxing resumes, and the two tweeted about it Wednesday.
Whether Haney winds up facing Fortuna or not, he still wants to see Garcia in the ring before the end of the year, and "The Dream" isn't letting up on mashing the dash to get that fight made, as he believes it needs to be treated with urgency, despite both fighters being 21-years-old.
"Especially in the lightweight division, there's so many big fights to be made and if we wait for all of them, who knows what may happen," Haney added. "Guys may go up in weight, down in weight. Guys may fall off, guys may be beat by someone who they thought would never beat them. So, why not make these big fights happen, when we all could get paid, when we all could benefit off these big fights and so can the fans?"
The Haney-Garcia rivalry dates back to when they were kids, with Haney claiming that he got the best of "KingRy" then and vowing for history to repeat itself in the pros.
"Ryan was my rival all through amateurs," Haney says. "We fought maybe the first time when I was about 8 years old, so I've been knowing Ryan for a long time. He's always been a talented fighter. We always have wars every single fight.
"He's been improving, but I've showed the more seasoned, professional (skills)," he tacks on for good measure. "I still think we'll have a great matchup and I see myself, of course, being victorious."