GRADES: RYAN GARCIA, DEVIN HANEY, ARNOLD BARBOZA & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

So, we just had the one major card this week, but, to be fair, it was pretty interesting to say the least.

This week, I'm keeping it simple: I'm breaking down the career-best performance of Ryan Garcia over (still) Jr. Welterweight titlist Devin Haney and the co-featured bout which showcased a rather...interesting, yet lackluster "win" for Arnold Barboza over the perhaps unlucky Sean McComb.

So, no more rambling. Let's hand out these grades:

RYAN GARCIA

RESULT: DEF. DEVIN HANEY, 12MD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

GRADE: B+

With the most important win of his career, Ryan Garcia showed us quite a bit about himself as a fighter.

With a dominant (sorta) win over Devin Haney, Garcia showed us he can be victorious against the best fighters in the world. While he certainly doesn't have a flawless style, what Garcia does well -- throw the left hook -- can be enough against the right opponents.

To his credit, Garcia also showcased an ability to bounce back from a major defeat and shine in his next big break.

However, we also saw an inability to listen to his trainer at times, a pretty terrible shoulder roll, and lulls in action when Ryan wasn't able to land something hurtful. When Haney applied pressure and made Garcia shell up, Garcia had few answers but to wait his turn and land something meaningful later on.

Against Haney, this plan worked out for the once-beaten Garcia. Against some of the other top 140 pounders, he still might be able to get tagged a bit too much to be successful.

However, Garcia does have that power. And as long as he's able to stand throw that hook, Ryan also has a shot of turning things around.

DEVIN HANEY

RESULT: LOSS TO RYAN GARCIA, 12MD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

GRADE: C+

In some respects, Devin Haney didn't lose much while suffering his first professional loss. Don't get me wrong, he's been defeated, it was a fair result, and it was to a somewhat bitter rival in Ryan Garcia. That's never awesome. However, it wasn't all a bad news.

For starters, Haney is known as a boxer that's a bit safety first -- perhaps too safety first for some people's likings. However, because he was forced into a fight by Garcia, Haney stepped into the fire, continued to throw and showed tremendous heart.

Even when he was hurt early, Haney chose to come forward and bring the fight to his man. He didn't run from the danger, Devin tried to neutralize it.

Of course, the two biggest concerns I've always had with Haney have been: Can he take a big shot and does he have the power needed to bail himself out? And those concerns proved important on the night. Whenever Garcia landed flush, Haney seemed to be in trouble. Later in the fight when Haney might have needed a big finish, he simply didn't have the power to deliver that sort of blow.

That said, Haney still has the skills to win a potential rematch. However, his approach will probably need to be a bit more defensive, a bit smarter (and maybe less exciting).

It wouldn't hurt Haney's chances if Garcia made weight, either.

ARNOLD BARBOZA

RESULT: DEF. SEAN McCOMB, 10SD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

GRADE: C-

Regardless of what the official scorecard says, Arnold Barboza didn't win much of anything when in against Sean McComb on Saturday night.

While two of the three judges found a way to give Barboza the nod, Barboza lost any of the sort of charm he had as a rising fighter at 140 pounds. Personally, I haven't found much that impressed me about Barboza prior to this encounter, but he was winning and (more or less) getting done what was being asked of him. However, that has now changed a bit.

No, it's not Barboza's fault that a relatively close call goes his way when many disagreed with the verdict. However, it's certainly he and his team's fault for having absolutely no answer to the questions McComb was posing.

McComb was keeping relatively busy from the outside in the southpaw stance and circling away. That's it, nothing too incredible to be fair.

However, outside of trying to land a big shot upstairs when McComb would stay on the ropes a bit too long, Barboza seemingly had no idea how to get inside and get some work done.

Maybe Barboza doesn't have the tools to deal with what McComb brought to the ring. Or, maybe he was too focused on the bigger names in the division he's looking to challenge one day. Either way, this result tellsus he's not quite ready for that step to say the least.

SEAN McCOMB

RESULT: LOSS TO ARNOLD BARBOZA, 10SD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

GRADE: B

You gotta feel for Sean McComb, a man that gave just about as good of a fight as he could against Arnold Barboza, only to predictably receive credit for said work by only a single judge.

In boxing, it's actually insane that such a result is so predictable, but you just know how these things go. The "away fighter" does well, seems to win more of the rounds, but, of course, leaves it to the officials to decide the winner. And so often, the winner seems decided before the bell rings.

Now, am I trying to say this was the biggest robbery you will ever see? No. However, when you get the sense that McComb had to get a stoppage just to earn a decision. McComb boxed and moved well, completely controlled the action and made Barboza look incredibly rudiementary in his approach. Considering his skills, this was the best performance McComb could deliver.

Of course, you don't deserve to win just for doing your best. However, you do deserve the W if your best is better than anything your opponent offers up.

Hopefully, McComb can bounce back with a few wins at home and gets another crack against someone with a name. Win or lose, we can also hope that the decision and result is fair if nothing else.

LINKS:

- SCHEDULE & ODDS

- RESULTS

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