Devin Haney explains why he is dropping lawsuit against rival Ryan Garcia

Haney has moved on from Garcia for now and will take on Brian Norman Jr on 22 November

Devin Haney has revealed that he is no longer pursuing legal action against Ryan Garcia following their controversial fight in April 2024.

The former undisputed lightweight champion filed a lawsuit against Garcia for battery, fraud and breach of contract which caused him injury, emotional distress, reputational damage and millions in potential earnings – after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine.

Garcia had also weighed in at 143lb ahead of what was supposed to be a super-lightweight title fight, for which the limit is 140lb, then proceeded to knock Haney down three times on the way to a majority-decision win.

Haney has insisted he never wanted to pursue legal action and was determined to get his revenge in the ring rather than the courtroom.

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"I would say that my team was [behind the lawsuit]," Haney explained to Ariel Helwani. "That wasn't something [I wanted]. I'm a fighter – I want to get it back in the ring. I want to get it back in blood, and that was my mindset from the start to the end. I've always wanted to do a rematch.

“There was a guy who cheated, and I was getting all the flak. I missed out on a lot of money, I missed out on a lot of opportunities for a guy who cheated me. But I wouldn’t have wanted to do it like that [sue Garcia], which... I didn’t end up doing it like that.

“I didn’t go down that route. I said, ‘Listen, let’s fight. Forget that, forget any lawsuit, forget anything. Let’s settle it in the ring.’”

Ryan Garcia (right) dropped Devin Haney three times in their 2024 fight, but his win was later overturned (AP)

It looked as though Haney and Garcia would get their rematch earlier this year, as they both signed lucrative deals with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season, where they would both have one warm-up fight before reigniting their hostilities in Riyadh.

Haney held up his end of the bargain when they both featured on the Times Square card on 3 May, beating Jose Ramirez on points.

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But Garcia fell short as he slipped to an upset defeat at the hands of his old rival Rolly Romero, scuppering plans for a potential rematch with Haney.

Haney has now moved on and is scheduled to fight Brian Norman Jr for his WBO welterweight title on 22 November, and Garcia is still in limbo, looking for his next opponent after recovering from minor hand surgery – but appears more interested in a rematch with Romero rather than fighting Haney right now.

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