A springtime of high-profile boxing action is about to get underway.

Just two weeks before Canelo Alvarez makes an annual Cinco de Mayo appearance and four ahead of the undisputed heavyweight duel between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, longtime rivals Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia meet for the former's 140-pound title belt at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

It's actually the seventh gloved meeting between the two, who've known each other since they were pre-teens and split six bouts in the amateur ranks.

A decisive match as pros has been considered for years as they've spent time at similar weights, and it came together for Saturday as Haney's first defense of the WBC super lightweight title he won in December.

The fight's imminent arrival has set the B/R combat team to take a closer look and compile a complete head-to-toe breakdown alongside all the pertinent statistical and viewing information.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.

What You Need to Know

What: Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia

Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

TV: DAZN (pay-per-view), PPV.com

What's at Stake: For those interested in sanctioning title belts, it's Haney's WBC super lightweight strap that's up for grabs. He won it with a rout of Regis Prograis in December after relinquishing a four-belt claim of supremacy five pounds down the ladder at 135.

Haney has more to lose from a status perspective as well given his No. 6 slot on B/R's pound-for-pound rankings for April. Garcia, meanwhile, isn't a fixture on anyone's pound-for-pound lists and is actually just the sixth-ranked contender at 140, according to the WBC.

Nevertheless, he's proved to be an effective drawing card across a 25-bout pro career that's been promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy and aided by his prodigious presence on social media. He's got more than 10 million followers on Instagram and more than 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube.

Garcia's pay-per-view bout with Gervonta Davis last April drew about 1.2 million buys. He was dropped twice on the way to a seventh-round KO loss, the first of his career. He has fought once since, stopping Oscar Duarte in eight rounds in early December.

Devin Haney's Tale of the Tape

Nickname: The Dream

Record: 31-0, 15 KOs

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 140 pounds*

Reach: 71"

Age: 25

Stance: Orthodox

Rounds: 210

All stats courtesy of Boxrec.

*Official weight at last fight in December 2023.

Ryan Garcia's Tale of the Tape

Nickname: KingRy

Record: 24-1, 20 KOs

Height: 5'8½"

Weight: 143 pounds*

Reach: 70"

Age: 25

Stance: Orthodox

Rounds: 100

All stats courtesy of BoxRec.

*Official weight at last fight in December 2023.

Boxing Ability

When it comes to an advantage in boxing ability in this fight, it's really no contest.

Haney is the modern incarnation of a slick, safety-first boxer with a strong jab, good hand speed and a tight guard. He uses subtle footwork to manage distance and avoid inside engagements, and he moves his head well to remain in viable position to counterpunch.

The style has worked as he's bamboozled opponents ranging from lower-tier contenders to fellow champions and future Hall of Fame inductee Vasyl Lomachenko.

In fact, he'd either won by KO or wide decision in nearly all of his fights outside of the Lomachenko win in May 2023, which was scored 7-5 in his favor by two judges and 8-4 by a third.

Though Garcia has a lanky frame, he's not a traditional long-distance fighter who keeps a shorter, more aggressive foe at the end of a jab. His stance is upright and balanced, but his M.O. for success leans more on speed and concussive power than sublimity.

So, when faced with an aggressive foe—not Haney's style—he's more apt to use clusters of left hooks and right hands to the head and body than jabs and movement.

Advantage: Haney

Punching Power

Where boxing ability was Haney's bailiwick, power is Garcia's likeliest path to victory.

He's won by stoppage in 20 of 24 wins and is both accurate and quick with his hands, which enables him to put together volleys of shots with designs on landing a decisive one.

He's been effective with lead left hooks from a right-handed stance and has shown an alacrity for chasing fight-closing blows to the body as well as the head.

Garcia rattled Davis early in their fight before ultimately succumbing to his powerful foe's own thudding shots, but the obstacle he faces in Haney's return fire will be more about volume and accuracy than devastation.

Haney seems stronger at 140 than he was while struggling to cut to 135, so his power might be increased, but the chances of him getting a KO against Garcia are more about a buildup of precise punishment over a prolonged series of rounds than one fight-altering blow.

Advantage: Garcia

Defensive Ability

Here's another factor via which Haney ought to have clear superiority.

He went the distance with Prograis—with 29 wins, 24 KOs and two reigns at 140—and was hit just 36 times, a CompuBox record for the fewest punches landed in a 12-round fight.

The contest turned non-violent from the foe's perspective thanks to aforementioned elements of Haney's boxing style—head movement that enables him to evade shots and fast feet that allow him to sidestep rushes and stay in countering range.

It reminds some of Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose ability to avoid prolonged punishment reduced opponent work rates and enabled a drumbeat of his own precise offense.

As for Garcia, he's another in a lineage of fighters whose success comes less from actual defensive ability and more from their own athleticism and offense. It's a shortcoming he could work with against lesser-tier foes, but it won't work against a sharpshooter like Haney.

Keeping his hands up and chin tucked will be mandatory to avoid disaster on Saturday because it's less likely that he'll be able to simply outpunch his mistakes.

Advantage: Haney

X-Factors

Haney's X-Factor: Is His Weight Right Yet?

It's been a recurring Haney story for years.

He often resembled a skeleton at weigh-ins for fights at 135 pounds and it was among the reasons for the move to 140, though the word was that he'd still rehydrated to the neighborhood of 165 pounds for the win over Prograis.

He's at least considering another move to 147 in the near future, which leaves one to wonder whether he's yet found his comfort zone and if boiling down to 140 again will be an issue.

Garcia's X-Factor: Is His Mind Right Yet?

Truth told, any X-factor relating to Haney has been a pre-fight appetizer to the recurring main courses about Garcia and his so-called erratic behavior.

He's been a presence on social media to the point where guys who know what they're looking at, like Teddy Atlas and Randy Gordon for example, are wondering if he's truly OK.

Others dismiss the behavior as an act designed primarily to generate interest and perhaps on some level to rattle Haney's cage as well. For his own sake, it had better be an act or an already vast gap between him and his opponent will seem gargantuan.