Ryan Garcia claims he caused Devin Haney to lose his hearing when they fought as amateurs in 2014.
The two men reportedly faced each other six times in the unpaid ranks, with the series split three apiece.
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Now, they are set to continue their rivalry as professionals when they clash for the WBC super lightweight title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 20.
Throughout the build-up to their upcoming clash, both men have made numerous claims regarding their amateur fights – particularly from Garcia who insists he “burst Haney’s eardrum” when they fought in the USA Junior semifinals. Olympic National Championships in 2014.
“We were at the Junior Olympics, there were about 14, 15 of us,” Garcia told DAZN. “I went after him right away, and had him hurt and wobbling in the middle of the ring. Everyone is going crazy.
“One of his guys in his corner came to my dad after the fight and he said, ‘Devin thinks you broke his eardrum because he can’t hear at all.’ They wanted to stop the fight.
Garcia added that he believed Haney and his team edited videos of their fights.
“That’s just one example of what I did to him, and he never gave me an eight count,” Garcia said. “They literally cut the video they were showing.”
The only footage of them boxing comes from the final of the 2014 U.S. Junior National Championships, where Haney raised his hand on points.
Speaking about that fight, Garcia continued: “He actually got a point taken away for hitting me in the back of the head and he still won.”
“That means he should have killed me all [of] the sweeps. They probably robbed me in that fight, but it’s okay. I do not care.
BoxRec lists four of their fights in its database, leaving two missing.
The first fight recorded by BoxRec took place in 2012 at Oxnard PAL and was won by Garcia by unanimous decision.
Haney avenged that loss at the Junior Nationals in January 2014, but lost to Garcia in a split later that year at the Junior Olympic Nationals.
The last time they fought was in January 2015, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior National Championships.
Haney won the contest by unanimous decision in three rounds.
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