Alberto Puello has demanded a fight against WBC junior welterweight No. 1 contender Sandor Martin, arguing that titleholder Devin Haney should be stripped of his belt following his recent loss to Ryan Garcia.
Puello (23-0, 10 KOs), 29, from the Dominican Republic, secured the WBC interim junior welterweight title last Saturday by outpointing Gary Antuanne Russell in a split decision. Despite being considered a sizable underdog, Puello overcame the odds to win the secondary title and immediately set his sights on the outright belt.
“I deserve to be the WBC champion, not Devin Haney, because he just received a beating by the hands of Ryan Garcia,” Puello tweeted. “How’s it possible that he still maintains the title if he doesn’t want to fight Martin? Tell him to abandon the title and I will take care of that.”
Haney (31-1, 15 KOs), 25, was quick to respond to Puello’s remarks.
Haney lost a majority decision to Garcia in April, but Garcia failed to make weight and failed two tests for PEDs, so Haney remained the champion.
“Brother, kiss my ass… I do what I want,” Haney tweeted in response to Puello.
Puello’s demand comes after a six-month suspension, starting in June 2023, following a positive drug test for the banned substance Clomiphene, collected by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) on April 5. That positive result forced Puello out of his scheduled title defense against Rolando Romero and resulted in Puello, the former WBA junior welterweight titleholder, losing his title. Romero subsequently won the vacant title with a controversial ninth-round stoppage of Ismael Barroso.
Since his suspension, Puello has fought twice, defeating Ector Madera in December 2023 and winning the interim title against Gary Antuanne Russell last Saturday.
Haney also criticized Puello’s past doping violation, tweeting, “U deserved to be banned for cheating.”
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