This one counts: Victorville's Garcia to challenge Haney for the 140-pound WBC title

The tagline — This one counts — that has been the selling point for the 140-pound clash between boxing superstars Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney couldn’t be more fitting.

The two 25-year-old fighters, born 101 days apart, have been on a mega-fight collision course for well over a decade. Garcia, of Victorville, was born Aug. 8, 1998, while Haney's birthday is Nov. 17.

Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will challenge Haney for his World Boxing Council junior welterweight title on April 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“If you guys didn't know they fought six times already in the amateurs and they're three and three, so this one does count,” Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya said. “This fight here is like they say, for all the marbles, this fight here is to see who is the best fighter at 140-pound division.”

Each won three of the bouts, with Haney winning the last one back in 2015 when they were both 16 years old.

While Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) won the last meeting, back in 2014 Garcia beat Haney at the USA Boxing Junior Olympic National Championships in West Virginia. Haney was the No. 1 ranked fighter in the 125-pound division entering that tournament.

From the archives: Ryan Garcia just misses out on a amateur boxing national title, beats Devin Haney in West Virginia

Garcia’s father at the time told the Daily Press that Haney was wobbled by his son in the first and second rounds. Before that tournament, Garcia told the Daily Press he was expecting to beat Haney in West Virginia.

“I have beat him twice but he has beat me once,” Garcia said when he was 15 years old. “I have dropped him and given him a standing eight count in our other fights. I have a strong feeling I'm going to come home victorious”

Haney has been vocal about their meetings as well, claiming he gave Garcia a standing eight count in their last amateur bout.

Haney also says he hasn’t been too impressed with Garcia since those days.

“Ryan’s always been a good fighter, since we were kids. But over time I’ve grown past him and gotten a lot better, and Ryan’s stayed the same. That’s for me to show on April 20,” Haney said in an interview with DAZN leading up to the press conferences. “It’s been a long time coming. We’re 3-3 in the amateurs, and this is No. 7. So this is time to seal the deal to prove who’s the better man, who’s gotten better since the amateurs, who’s developing into the pros better. It’s time for me to show how great I really am.”

Garcia is coming off an eighth-round knockout victory over Oscar Duarte in December after suffering the first loss of his career against Gervonta Davis.

Garcia lost by seventh-round TKO from a body shot in a 136-pound catchweight bout against Davis, where he couldn't exceed 146 pounds the morning of the fight.

Three of his last four bouts have taken place at 140 pounds, most recently against Duarte.

Haney is defending this junior welterweight title for the first time since beating Regis Prograis a week after Garcia’s victory over Duarte. Haney, in his 140-pound debut, scored a lopsided unanimous decision over Prograis to become a two-division champion.

Brooklyn over Las Vegas

The bout was initially believed to be held in Las Vegas, but the boxing world was thrown a curveball when Golden Boy Promotions announced the Barclays Center would be the host.

Both fighters are from California, Haney now lives in Las Vegas, and the biggest fights in the sport have generally been in Las Vegas.

But De La Hoya says taking the event across the country is common sense and believes this bout will generate the biggest live gate in New York history.

“The greats, the best, fought in New York in order to become a world champion,” De La Hoya told the Associated Press. “Not a Vegas champion, not a California champion, but a global world champion, and so I’ve always thought that fighters who want to be superstars must fight in New York. This is why we’re here.

“And guess what, your future fight, you’ll make up for what you didn’t make here. You’ll make it up 10 times. Your popularity, with your endorsements, you’re a global star now. It’s all common sense.”

Garcia wasn’t too thrilled with fighting Haney in New York as he quickly stated he would do everything in his power to bring the fight back to the West Coast. Following the press conference in New York, Garcia changed his stance and tickets will officially be on sale Friday morning.

“My thing is, when I come to the East Coast I want to fight somebody that has ties to the East Coast, that is from New York,” Garcia said. “Like maybe fight Teofimo (Lopez) here. He’s from Brooklyn, that would be great. But fighting Devin Haney, it’s two West Coast fighters. I know we could do it, we could sell it out, but it just didn’t make sense to me.”

Grand entrances

Garcia made the two-city press conference tour a spectacle with grand entrances.

In New York, Garcia entered the stage as a group of women sprinkled the ground rose petals before him. He then sat on a large throne on the stage, while Haney and the others on stage sat in normal chairs.

Garcia promised fans that Thursday's press conference, at the Avalon Hollywood & Bardot, would be “something out of a movie.”

Garcia didn’t disappoint as he wore an all-white outfit and rode atop a white horse. Once he got off the horse, he sat atop the shoulders of two bodyguards.

Once inside the venue, he was ushered on stage behind a group of dancers. He sat on a regular chair as opposed to on a throne for the West Coast conference.

As for the press conference, it was a wild affair with a tirade of verbal jabs.

When the fighters posed for a customary stare down afterwards, Garcia stood quietly, swaying side to side, as Haney aggressively shared some words.

Garcia walked off the stage and didn’t conduct any media interviews as he did in New York.

Some hours later, the Victorville native posted several photos on Instagram.

“Pure imagination come with me and you’ll see this all can be a reality. It takes Guts to Make your dreams vision and ideas into real life, I love you. I love Jesus. Sincerely KingRyan,” Garcia wrote as the caption.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victorville's Garcia to challenge Haney for the 140-pound WBC title