Ryan Garcia knocks Devin Haney down 3 times and hands his amateur rival his first pro loss

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Garcia's behavior leading up to his bout against Devin Haney seemed so erratic that some people thought he shouldn't be allowed to fight at all.

Think of the performance they would have missed.

Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss, winning the fight by majority decision Saturday night but not the title because he was over the weight limit.

Garcia's odd actions in public and on social media throughout the buildup led to questions about how serious he was about this fight. It sure seemed as though he didn't devote enough time for training when he was more than 3 pounds above the 140-pound limit on Friday.

But the speed and power in his hands was too much for Haney, who was hurt right from the opening round and went down in the seventh, 10th and 11th.

“Come on guys, you really thought I was crazy?” Garcia screamed to the fans during his post-fight interview in the ring.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) won by scores of 115-109 and 114-110 on two of the judges' cards, while the third had it 112-112.

The Associated Press scored it 114-110 for Garcia.

The 25-year-olds from California split six fights as amateurs, but Haney had the stronger pro career, winning the undisputed lightweight title and then moving up to win the WBC belt in his first fight at 140 pounds.

Garcia couldn't take that, but he took Haney's perfect record. Haney fell to 31-1.

Haney had seemingly taken his place among the best fighters in the world, while it became easy to wonder if Garcia was overhyped. Garcia was stopped by Gervonta Davis last year in his biggest fight and expectations were he was going down again, even as he insisted he was ready to fight despite the appearance that he spent more time on the internet than in the gym.

Garcia explained that he needs his nights out and time for his other interests to help get past problems in his personal life, such as a divorce.

“I did what I thought I needed to do to feel OK,” Garcia said.

He was better than OK. He was better than one of the best fighters in the world.

He wobbled Haney with a big left hook in the opening round, and though Haney steadied himself and appeared to winning the middle rounds, Garcia’s power showed up again in the seventh.

“He caught me early when I was sleeping on it,” Haney said of the first-round hook. “He caught me by surprise.”

A straight left set up the first knockdown and Haney struggled to regain his balance the rest of the round. He went down twice more in the round, but neither was ruled a knockdown by the referee, who also took a point from Garcia in the round for hitting on the break.

No matter. There was no denying the knockdowns in the 10th and 11th, and Garcia was able to spend most of the 12th taunting the champion.

It had been unclear from the start how enthused Garcia was for the fight, which he was lobbying to be held in Las Vegas even after it had already been announced for Brooklyn.

It became a non-title bout Friday when Garcia weighed in at 143.2 pounds, 3.2 above the super lightweight limit. He didn’t seem bothered, firing off social media posts saying the extra weight would make him stronger, then drinking what appeared to be a bottle of beer on the scale during the ceremonial public weigh-in later in the afternoon.

But he looked like the fast-rising sensation of earlier in his career, the crowd chanting his name as he began to dominate the latter rounds.

Garcia said he would look to move up to 147 pounds, saying he is unable to get to the 140-pound limit.

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Devin Haney pauses after being knocked down during the seventh round of a super lightweight boxing match against Ryan Garcia ealry Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, left, punches Devin Haney during the 12th round of a super lightweight boxing bout early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, left, punches Devin Haney during the 12th round of a super lightweight boxing match Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, right, punches Devin Haney during the eighth round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Devin Haney, right, punches Ryan Garcia during the ninth round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. Garcia won the fight. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia celebrates after winning a super lightweight boxing match against Devin Haney early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Devin Haney, right, punches Ryan Garcia during the second round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia, right, punches Devin Haney during the first round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Ryan Garcia stands over Devin Haney after knocking him down during the seventh round of a super lightweight boxing match early Sunday, April 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip to start evacuating from the area, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.

The announcement complicates last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the director of the CIA, to broker a cease-fire. The militant Hamas group and Qatar, a key mediator, have warned that invading Rafah — along the border with Egypt — could derail the talks, and the United States has repeatedly urged Israel against the invasion.

However, Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said the invasion is necessary to defeat the Islamic militant group.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. But after Oct. 7 and the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by Hamas, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day.

Overnight, Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, told U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin that Israel had no choice but to act in Rafah. On Sunday, Hamas carried out a deadly rocket attack from the Rafah area that killed four Israeli soldiers.

Shoshani said Israel published a map of the evacuation area, and that orders were being issued through air-dropped leaflets, text messages and radio broadcasts. He said Israel has expanded humanitarian aid into Muwasi, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.

Israel's army said on the social platform X that it would act with “extreme force” against militants, and urged the population to evacuate immediately for their safety.

Israel's plan to invade Rafah has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

About 1.4 million Palestinians — more than half of Gaza’s population — are jammed into the city and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another wrenching move or the danger of staying under a new assault. They live in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N. shelters or crowded apartments, and are dependent on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facilities infrastructure crippled.

The U.N. agency that has helped millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, known as UNRWA, warned Monday of devastating consequences of a Rafah offensive, including more civilian suffering and deaths. The agency said it would not leave but stay in Rafah as long as possible to continue providing lifesaving assistance.

Egypt’s Rafah crossing, a main transfer point for aid going into Gaza, lies in the evacuation zone. The crossing remained open on Monday after the Israeli order.

But even as the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have pushed for a cease-fire agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated last week that the military would move on the city “with or without a deal” to achieve its goal of destroying the Hamas militant group.

On Monday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of “torpedoing” the hostage deal and not budging from its “extreme demands” while vowing to stop the militants from retaking control of Gaza. In a fiery speech Sunday evening marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, he rejected international pressure to halt the war, saying that "if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”

A Hamas official told The Associated Press that Israel is trying to pressure the group into making concessions on the cease-fire, but that it won't change its demands. Hamas wants a full end to the war, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the eventual reconstruction of the strip in exchange for the Israeli hostages held by the militants.

Shoshani would not say whether the upcoming Rafah operation is a response to Sunday's attack by Hamas that forced Israel's key border crossing for aid to close. He said it would not affect how much aid enters Gaza as other crossing points remain operational.

He wouldn't comment, however, on U.S. warnings not to invade and wasn't clear on whether Monday's evacuation order was coordinated with Egypt.

Egypt, a strategic partner of Israel, has said that an Israeli military seizure of the Gaza-Egypt border — which is supposed to be demilitarized — or any move to push Palestinians into Egypt would threaten its four-decade-old peace treaty with Israel.

In Rafah, people received flyers Monday morning in Arabic detailing which neighborhood blocks needed to leave and where humanitarian zones had expanded to. The flyers said that aid services would spread from Deir al Balah in the north to the center of Khan Younis city in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

“Anyone found near (militant) organizations endangers themselves and their family members. For your safety, the (army) urges you to evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area”, it read.

Palestinians in Rafah said people gathered to discuss their options after receiving the flyers. Most said they did not want to move alone and preferred to travel in groups.

“So many people here are displaced and now they have to move again, but no one will stay here it’s not safe,” Nidal Alzaanin told The Associated Press by phone.

A father of five, Alzaanin works for an international aid group and was displaced to Rafah from Beit Hanoun in the north at the start of the war. He said people are concerned since Israeli troops shot at Palestinians as they moved during previous evacuation orders.

Alzaanin said he has packed his documents and bags but will wait 24 hours to see what others do before relocating. He said he has a friend in Khan Younis whom he hopes can pitch a tent for his family.

But some people say they're too tired and fed up of months of devastation to flee again.

Sahar Abu Nahel was displaced to Rafah with 20 of her family, her husband is being held by Israel, her son-in-law in missing, she said.

“Where am I going to go? I have no money or anything. I am seriously tired as are (my) children," she said wiping tears from her cheeks. “Maybe its more honorable for us to die. We are being humiliated,” she said.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

Palestinians hold leaflets dropped by Israeli planes calling on them to evacuate ahead of an Israeli military operation in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, May 6, 2024. The order affects tens of thousands of people and could signal a broader invasion of Rafah, which Israel has identified as Hamas' last major stronghold after seven months of war. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Israeli soldiers drive a tank at a staging ground near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Stirp, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Stirp, at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian woman mourns her relative, 7-month old baby Hani Qeshta, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building with Qeshta's family, at the morgue of Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

The Qeshta family is seen in body bags at the morgue of Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 5, 2024. The family was killed in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building in Rafah. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

A Palestinian woman mourns her relative, 7-month old baby Hani Qeshta, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building with Qeshta's family, at the morgue of Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)