Mauricio Sulaiman has ruled that Devin Haney will continue to hold the WBC super lightweight title after his loss to Ryan Garcia, a change in protocol from the usual standard.
The title was not on the line for Garcia in the fight, after Ryan failed to make weight on Friday, but the understanding everyone had going into the bout was that Haney (31-1, 15 KO) could still lose the belt — which would go vacant — if he lost the fight.
He did lose the fight, getting dropped three times along the way, but the WBC have decided otherwise, citing the Corrales vs Castillo 2 precedent from 2005.
Congratulations to Ryan GarcÌa defying all obstacles and winning a huge fight. Congratulations to Devin Haney for showing his huge heart and class.
Just as in Corrales vs Castillo 2 , with the challenger not making weight, Haney remains WBC champion.— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) April 21, 2024
Castillo missed weight ahead of that fight and won a fourth round knockout. The two had been meant for a third bout in 2006, but it was canceled when Castillo again missed weight.
If this were some sport other than boxing, the timing and nature of this ruling would seem pretty suspect, but it is boxing, and this sort of thing is pretty much par for the course.
But it’s also hard for me to get too worked up about this. There’s an obvious logic in Haney not being eligible to lose a belt that the other guy wasn’t eligible to win, but it’s the timing of it all, and the fact that everyone was working under the idea that the belt would go vacant. Why didn’t the WBC just say this on Friday, or earlier on Saturday?
We’ll never know, and it will never terribly matter, either, so on we go.