Roy Jones Jr has weighed in on a potential rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, believing that both fighters have shown greater improvements than Teofimo Lopez.
Garcia made a first defence of his WBC world title last weekend, defeating Conor Benn with a second-round finish at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
As a result, there is now a jostle for supremacy at 147lbs, with fellow champions Haney, Lopez and Liam Paro all boasting a claim to the ultimate throne.
In particular, Garcia has expressed his interest in a unification match with Lopez, who claimed his WBA title by dethroning Rolando Romero last month.
But while many would highlight this as the most intriguing welterweight matchup, pound-for-pound legend Jones has argued that a rematch between Garcia and Haney is far more appealing.
The pair squared off in April 2024 and, despite scoring three knockdowns to edge a majority decision, Garcia’s unexpected triumph was ultimately ruled a no-contest.
This was because the Californian tested positive for banned substance ostarine, for which he served a year-long ban and returned with a unanimous decision defeat to Romero.
But still, Jones has told Parimatch that he believes the winner of Garcia and Haney’s possible rematch would be crowned the top dog at 147lbs.
“Ryan is constantly getting better. These other guys, they’re kind of staying where they are. Teofimo has hit a roadblock – I don’t think he’s really improved much. [Whereas] Haney has gotten better at 147[lbs].
“He looked a lot better in his 147-pound [debut] than he did at 135 and 140[lbs]. So I think the Haney fight [is] the one I would like to see the most right now.
“Both of those fighters have improved. If [Garcia] can get past Devin … yeah, he probably could clean up the division. Ryan definitely has the tools and the skill to run it, but Devin does too.”
While having not fought since his WBO title-winning performance against Brian Norman Jr last November, many still regard Haney as the man to beat at 147lbs.
