Haney–Garcia rematch stalls
Talk of a Devin Haney–Ryan Garcia rematch is alive but not imminent — insiders say obstacles and alternate options are muddying the path. ( ) Garcia’s public heat with Haney continues — he posted “They robbed me… I’ve never touched steroids in my life” on Threads — and Conor Benn could muscl in as a WBC mandatory if he beats Regis Prograis, which would further complicate timelines. ( )
A Devin Haney–Ryan Garcia rematch is still being talked about, but the fight is stuck in the kind of traffic jam boxing creates for itself: titles, testing demands, and other opponents all arrived at once in spring 2026. Haney said in March that Garcia messaged him about being the “A-side,” while Garcia’s next target was still being described as Haney despite “a few obstacles.” (boxingnewsonline.net, sports.yahoo.com) The reason this rematch still sells is simple: their first pro fight in April 2024 never got a clean ending. Garcia dropped Haney three times and won a majority decision, but he had come in 3.2 pounds over the 140-pound limit, and the result was later changed to a no contest after a positive test for ostarine and a one-year suspension. (boxingnewsonline.net, boxingnewsonline.net) Since then, both men moved up to welterweight and picked up belts, which turned the rematch from a grudge fight into a title fight. Haney won the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt from Brian Norman Jr. in November 2025, and Garcia won the World Boxing Council welterweight belt from Mario Barrios on February 21, 2026. (espn.com, espn.com) That should make the path easier, but it has done the opposite. Haney publicly said on March 15 that he would sign immediately if Garcia joined year-round Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency testing, after Haney had already said in February that the “ship sailed” when Garcia dropped out of that testing pool. (boxingnewsonline.net, boxingnewsonline.net) Garcia has kept the feud hot in public even while the deal stays cold in private. In a recent Threads post circulated by boxing accounts, Garcia wrote, “They robbed me” and “I’ve never touched steroids in my life,” which shows he is still arguing about the 2024 fallout instead of closing the business terms for 2026. (threads.com) There is also a second fight hanging over the whole thing: Haney has been repeatedly linked to Rolando Romero, the World Boxing Association welterweight champion. Boxing News reported in March that Haney appeared likely to face Romero on May 30 in Las Vegas, which would give Haney a unification option that does not depend on Garcia at all. (boxingnewsonline.net) Garcia has his own traffic problem on the other side of the bracket. Conor Benn entered April 11 as the World Boxing Council’s number one contender at welterweight, and Boxing247 reported that a Benn win over Regis Prograis would likely push him into mandatory-challenger position for Garcia’s belt. (boxing247.com) Benn has not been subtle about it either. He said he could have waited for Garcia, chose to stay active instead, and wants the World Boxing Council title “just the other side of summer,” which is the kind of sentence that turns a voluntary superfight into a scheduling fight with a sanctioning body. (boxing247.com) So the rematch is not dead. It is sitting between Haney’s demand for year-round testing, Garcia’s claim to the bigger side of the deal, Haney’s Romero option, and Benn’s possible mandatory shot if he beats Prograis. (boxingnewsonline.net, boxingnewsonline.net, boxing247.com) In other words, boxing has the rare sequel that almost everyone understands in one sentence, and it still may not happen next. The two champions are in the same division with unfinished business from April 2024, but April 2026 is full of people trying to get paid before they get out of the way. (boxingnewsonline.net, sports.yahoo.com, boxing247.com)
