Robert Garcia will have a close-up look when WBO welterweight champion
Brian Norman Jr. defends his title against
Devin Haney on November 22 as part of “The Ring IV: Night of the Champions” card in Saudi Arabia.
Garcia will be ringside in Riyadh because he’s involved in the penultimate fight, in which The Ring, WBC, and WBO junior bantamweight champion
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) will take on WBA titleholder
Fernando Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) in a title unification matchup.
Garcia, The Ring’s 2024 Trainer of the Year, also coaches welterweight
Raul Curiel, who could perhaps be in line for a crack at the winner between Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) and Haney (32-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) down the line.
Haney, a former undisputed 135-pound champion and a 140-pound titleholder, last fought at a 144-pound catchweight against the Garcia-coached former 140-pound unified champion
Jose Ramirez. Haney was criticized for running most of the fight and not engaging in action in a
unanimous decision win.
Garcia offered his thoughts going into
Norman vs. Haney, which takes place on DAZN PPV (UK: £24.99; US: $59.99).
“It's not going to look good on Devin if he wins the same way,” Garcia told The Ring. “Devin needs to show up. I think Devin is a great and talented fighter with so much potential. But it's going to be hard – Norman is such a [expletive] monster. He's a beast and a strong fighter. Norman is a great fighter, but he's great against guys who come to fight. If he catches Haney, he's going to hurt him. Especially from what I saw from Haney against Ramirez.
"In the fight against Ramirez, Haney was scared to get hit. He was fighting scared. He definitely didn't want to get hit. He was worried about getting hurt. Hopefully for him, it's because it was his first fight back after getting dropped three times against Ryan Garcia, and he now has a different mindset and gameplan. If he decides to move around and run, I think he easily wins a decision. But it will be another boring fight where the people are not going to be happy and booing him.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.