Devin Haney could return to the ring before the end of the year on one of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s cards in Saudi Arabia.
This will be the first fight back for the former undisputed lightweight champion Haney since his loss to Ryan Garcia last April.
Fans will be interested in seeing how Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) looks physically because he took a beating from Ryan, and there are questions about his ability to take shots without getting hurt or dropped.
The Safe Choice: Michael McKinson
It’s expected that Haney will face a weak puncher to ensure that he doesn’t have problems in his return fight. He’s in the building stage, so he’s likely to be a non-puncher when he makes his debut at 147.
Chris Mannix of DAZN feels that British welterweight Michael McKinson (26-1, 4 KOs) or Alexis Rocha would be perfect for Haney to fight next because he should safely beat them without being hurt.
“One of the names I thought of was Michael McKinson. That, for me, makes sense. Michael McKinson is the 147-lb version of Sandor Martin,” said commentator Chris Mannix on his YouTube channel, talking about potential opponents for Devin Haney’s next fight. “He’s good, but he’s not going to hurt you.”
McKinson has a tricky style, and he could give Haney problems if he sticks around for the full 10 to 12 rounds. Even with Mckinson’s light shots, he might be able to take advantage of Haney’s fragile state if his punch resistance isn’t the same from the fight against Ryan.
“As long as Devin still has his wits about him, has his skill set, and has his confidence, that’s a fight I would favor him to win. What the [Ryan] Garcia fight took out of him. I lean more toward the optimistic side of that,” said Mannix.
“Even though Devin took that beating, he was successful in the other rounds [where he wasn’t getting knocked down or hurt]. When he was boxing, he was boxing reasonably well. This was not a blowout win for Ryan Garcia.”
Garcia’s poor stamina helped Haney be competitive in the fight with Ryan. He was getting tired and only capable of fighting in spurts. When Ryan would catch his wind, he was battering Haney and taking advantage of him trying to hold. Haney was in the line of fire of Ryan’s left hooks when he would give forward, looking to clinch.
“He does have a strong connection to Turki Alalshikh. He wants to put Devin Haney fights on in Saudi Arabia,” said Mannix. “If you come back against a McKinson type or an Alexis Rocha type. You can certainly argue that Rocha is kind of dangerous too. Rocha can punch a little bit.”
Choosing Rocha would be a bad idea for Haney because he can punch, which is dangerous. If the fight could be made, the safe bet would be McKinson, but definitely not Rocha.
“If you come back against a lesser fighter. You’re going to be able to lure a champion over to Saudi Arabia. Mario Barrios is out there looking for a fight,” said Mannix. “If Devin Haney comes back, I could see him on one of the two end-of-the-year cards against a McKinson type and then right into a big fight in the first quarter of 2025.”
WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios would be a beatable champion for Haney to fight if he gets past his tune-up fight at the end of the year.
The Garcia Rematch: Inevitable
“Let’s say he [Haney] wins a title. Let’s pretend he wins a title against a Barrios or Stanionis,” said Mannix. “How much bigger does that make a Ryan Garcia rematch? It makes it huge. We all know it’s coming. Devin wants to run that back.
“Ryan, when he gets back, will be looking for a big payday. I don’t believe the PPVs were huge the first time around because people didn’t believe that fight was going to be competitive,” said Mannix on the Haney vs. Garcia fight on April 20th.
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