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With a Muslim Ally, Ryan Garcia Strikes Back at Devin Haney’s Accusations of Disrespecting Islam

Published 02/27/2024, 7:40 AM EST

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via Imago

The simmering feud between lightweight boxing stars Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney shows no signs of cooling down. In an appearance on The MMA Hour, Garcia revealed yet another bizarre interaction that highlights the animosity between the two fighters. According to Garcia, he simply wished Haney a “Merry Christmas” back in December, a seemingly harmless gesture.

However, things took a strange turn when Haney allegedly interpreted the greeting as disrespectful to his religion. Garcia expressed disbelief at this notion, calling it “dumb.” Well, this was after Haney appeared on the same show and accused Garcia of talking disrespectfully about his religion to an unknown third party.

Ryan Garcia warns against spreading rumors

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Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are slated to go against each other on April 20 in Brooklyn, New York. Both fighters have already squared up against each other multiple times during their amateur careers. So their history goes back in time, but things are totally different on the professional stage. Haney believes that this right has now been turned into a personal grudge, because of Garcia’s alleged harsh statements.

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However, Garcia is in complete denial of any statement claimed by Devin Haney. He said, “I never disrespected his religion, I want that to be clear right now. First of all, I would never do that. Second of all I can show you the DMs, I said Merry Christmas. He took that as disrespect, did I know that Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas? No.” In addition to this, he even stated how he has a Muslim employee, so he could never disrespect somebody’s religion.

He added, “I have a Muslim photographer he’s right there, he’s dope as heck. We love each other, I don’t hate nobody. Don’t try to start that narrative. I told you, don’t bring religion into this. I don’t know why you’re doing this. I already told him in the DMS, let’s not make this a religious thing.” Now it begs the question, what were the questions?

Devin Haney keeps it vague

Not long ago, Haney hopped on ‘The MMA Hour’, where he talked about how he doesn’t see Garcia and him ever being cool with each other. This is irrespective of the outcome of their bout, as mentioned that Garcia had crossed the lines for him. He stated, “Nah it’s personal because Ryan said some things that like just rubbed me the wrong way, there’s no coming back from.”

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So, Ariel Helwani asked on behalf of the fans about the exact thing that Garcia had said. Haney replied, “Nah I don’t wanna say it. He knows what he said and he knows who he said it. He didn’t say it to me, he said it to somebody that got back to me, so it’s like now I got to make an example out of him.” Haney kept the identity of the individual in question concealed.

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Helwani tried to make a joke about that person being Floyd Mayweather but Haney appeared unfazed. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

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Written by:

Chirag Radhyan

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One take at a time

My passion for sweet science began at the tender age of 12, a gift from my father who introduced me to the legendary persona of Muhammad Ali. In my heart, 'The Rumble in the Jungle' still remains to be the pinnacle of sporting history. Over the years, my fervor for boxing remained intact, although life's commitments sometimes deviated me from being a hardcore fan of the sport.
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Edited by:

Snigdhaa Jaiswal