Ryan Garcia Still Blasts Ref Harvey Dock Over Haney Fight

Ryan Garcia is renewing his attack on referee Harvey Dock, insisting Dock's point deduction in round seven of his April 2024 fight with Devin Haney cost him a legitimate knockout.

Garcia went after Dock on social media this week, calling him a "cheater" for the call that turned a dominant round into a controversial one. The moment in question came after Garcia dropped Haney with a left hook and had him badly hurt on the ropes. Dock stepped in and took a point from Garcia for hitting on the break without issuing a prior warning, a decision that stopped Garcia's flurry and gave Haney time to recover.

What Actually Happened in Round Seven

Garcia dropped Devin Haney with a clean left hook in round seven and appeared seconds from finishing him when Harvey Dock intervened. The deduction turned what looked like a 10-8 round into a 9-9 card on two of the official scorecards, erasing the clearest evidence of how close Haney came to being stopped. Garcia went on to win a majority decision that night, a result state regulators later overturned to a no contest after Garcia tested positive for ostarine.

Garcia's frustration isn't really about the scorecards anymore since those got wiped clean anyway. It's about the finish he believes he was denied. A knockout doesn't get erased by a commission ruling. A decision does, and that's exactly what happened here. Haney's team has been able to point to the no contest and downplay how badly he was hurt, an argument that gets a lot harder to make if Garcia had closed the show in round seven.

Why This Still Matters With a Rematch Looming

Garcia is bringing this grievance back up right as rematch chatter with Haney heats up, and that timing isn't an accident. Garcia is coming off a second-round TKO of Conor Benn to defend his WBC welterweight title, arguably the best moment of his career, and he's using this window to remind fans and potential opponents that his win over Haney should have been more emphatic than the record shows. Reopening the round seven conversation now serves a purpose. It frames a potential Haney rematch not as a coin flip but as unfinished business Garcia believes he already settled once, referee or no referee.

For bettors watching this space, the public narrative around Garcia right now is about as strong as it's been in his career. A dominant stoppage of Benn on top of a fighter's-eye argument that he already beat Haney more definitively than the record indicates is the kind of storyline that shapes market perception before a fight is even made official. If a Garcia-Haney sequel does get booked, expect Garcia to open as the favorite given his current form, with his camp leaning hard on the round seven footage to sell the fight as him finishing business rather than settling a score.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Ryan Garcia angry at referee Harvey Dock?

Ryan Garcia believes referee Harvey Dock cost him a knockout over Devin Haney in round seven of their April 2024 fight by deducting a point for hitting on the break, which stopped his attack while Haney was badly hurt.

What happened to the result of the Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney fight?

Ryan Garcia won a majority decision over Devin Haney in April 2024, but the result was later overturned to a no contest after Garcia tested positive for ostarine.

What is Ryan Garcia's most recent fight?

Ryan Garcia most recently defended his WBC welterweight title with a second-round TKO of Conor Benn.