Kenny Ellis, one of the trainers of WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, has made statements that can be safely be considered to be extremely egregious as he accuses Devin Haney of planning to pull out of his upcoming April 20th bout against Ryan Garcia. Aside from Haney having no known history of ever withdrawing from fights and having been a consummate professional when it comes to preparation and participation, Garcia is actually the fighter expected to pull out―not merely due to having already had a history of doing so, but his antics over the past couple of months gave rise to speculation that he would not participate on April 20th.
The rivalry between Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) has now risen to rather disturbing levels of animosity as one of Davis’ trainers, Kenny Ellis, came out with a highly unlikely prediction that appears to be heavily-rooted in a dislike of Haney―rather than a realistic and rational viewpoint. With Haney set to battle against Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) upcoming Saturday in the first defense of his WBC super lightweight/junior welterweight title, Ellis put on one of the most flagrant displays of bias and malice as he surmised that Haney would pull out of his fight.
“I just think it’s one of those situations where somebody is going to pull out for whatever reason.” Ellis stated during an interview with boxing media platform MillCity Boxing.
When asked on why he felt that way, Kenny Ellis came with a surprising answer:
“Because Ryan [Garcia] is a threat,” Ellis said. “I think the n**** [Devin Haney] is going to get cold feet.
“Look at everybody’s size compared to who Devin fought in the past. He fought horse jockeys, man. Guys that could qualify, you know, [to] ride horses. They was small.
“And look at Ryan. Ryan’s big, man. His stature is just as big as Devin, but he’s stronger. He [Garcia] got speed, he got power, he got heart.
“Devin is not going to engage. Ryan knows that. He ain’t going to engage. He ain’t going to stay and trade. Remember, the first two rounds Ryan jumped on ‘Tank’ [Gervonta Davis]. He was in suicide mode. To jump on Tank the way he did; he got heart [but] he was in suicide mode when he did it. Tank would do Devin the same way.“
Kenny Ellis’ assertions that Devin Haney never fought someone bigger than himself does not make any sense, as each fighter in each weight class fights someone of the same size, except for the heavyweight division. While height might differ from opponent to opponent and weight can change upon the actual fight night, most fighters engage against opponents that are the same size―which is the exact reason why weight classes exist.
Ellis also failed to take into account Gervonta Davis has his own issues when it comes to actually fighting opponents that are the same size, with his last fight against Ryan Garcia culminating in Garcia moving down to lightweight from his current weight class of 140 lbs, and being slammed with a rehydration clause [as confirmed by Davis himself] that would prevent Garcia from being at full health against Davis last year―meaning that Davis arguably fought a handicapped fighter as Garcia would be dealing with dehydration and be unable to rehydrate healthily, and could have further suffered relative health issues during the period he was cutting weight. The fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, held on April 22nd last year, eventually saw Garcia lose by knockout (KO) after a body shot by Davis left him unable to continue.
Prior to fighting Ryan Garcia, Gervonta Davis faced Hector Garcia who moved up from the 130 lbs division and would therefore be considered a smaller fighter, according to Ellis’ own rationale. Though to Davis’ credit, he did fight once at 140 lbs when he faced Mario Barrios (28-2, 18 KO’s) in 2021, Barrios later confirmed he also was fighting under a rehydration clause.
Ellis’ opinion surrounding Haney never having fought someone his own size and fighting “horse jockeys” becomes more outrageous when Ryan Garcia’s resume confirms he himself has not fought anyone bigger. In fact, most―if not all―of Ryan Garcia’s fights at super lightweight saw Garcia face an opponent that moved up from the lightweight division. This includes Garcia’s last opponent, Oscar Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KO’s), who was barely considered a fringe contender at 135 lbs before he fought Garcia at 140 lbs [for the first time] on December 2nd last year.
In comparison, Devin Haney at least fought a natural 140-pounder in former WBC champion Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s) last year and managed to soundly defeat and knock Prograis down en route to a unanimous decision (UD) win. To make Ellis’ statements even more absurd, Prograis still boasts one of the highest knockout percentages in the 140 lbs division, with his KO ratio of 82.76% making Prograis one of the ten hardest hitters currently fighting at the top level.
Though Kenny Ellis spoke of Ryan Garcia being a threat, his assumption that Devin Haney will withdraw from his upcoming bout due to this seems to be a heavily biased notion based on nothing that has to do with the present reality. As mentioned earlier, while Haney has no recorded history of pulling out of fights, Garcia, ironically enough, has an actual history of withdrawing from fights.
Ellis’ statements are problematic; not only due to the inaccuracy of his opinions, but also due to his unprofessional nature encapsulated by his focus lingering on another fighter rather than his own. Kenny Ellis’ sentiments surrounding Devin Haney appears to be based on the rivalry Gervonta Davis has with Haney, demonstrating a clear bias and shortsightedness on the trainer’s part which may leave him unable to appropriately prepare Davis if he were to fight Haney, or any other opponent, in the future.
