Devin Haney is convinced he’ll bounce back from his loss to Ryan Garcia and come back even “higher” than before. That’s a tall order for the former two-division world champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) because he looked awful, getting beaten up by Ryan last April.
That loss for Haney showed he lacks the chin, power, and talent to hang with the best at 140. Although Haney captured titles in two weight classes, his wins came against George Kambosos Jr. and Regis Prograis. He’d not fought talented fighters to win his titles.
For Haney to rise “higher” than before, he’ll need to start racking up quality wins without controversy and not use size as a tool. He has a reputation for being a weight bully, so he must move up to 147 or 154.
Haney, 25, hasn’t said which direction he’ll take to return to the levels he was fighting at before his 12-round decision loss to Garcia on April 20th. It’s believed that Haney will be forced to move up to 147 because he’s rapidly outgrown the light welterweight division after just two fights.
Promoter Eddie Hearn recommends that Haney take a tune-up because he believes his career could be ruined if he comes against a good opponent and suffers another loss.
Haney’s PPV Numbers:
- 500,000: Ryan Garcia
- 55,000: Regis Prograis
- 150,000: Vasily Lomachenko
Hearn points out that the problem with Haney taking a tuneup is his inflated purse requirements. Devin’s past PPV numbers aren’t good enough for him to be counted on to bring in revenue against a tune-up-level opponent. He would need to fight someone good.
Haney would likely want a lot of money that wouldn’t be there for a tune-up without His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stepping in to pay him untold millions for a simple confidence booster. If Turki isn’t going to help, Haney would be forced to fight someone good on PPV, and Hearn thinks that could end badly for him.
“I wanted to be the best. So, nothing has changed. Just a little adversity. That’s just part of it. Every great has faced adversity. I don’t care who you are,” said Devin Haney to All The Smoke Fight channel, talking about where he’s at, coming off a loss to Ryan Garcia.
“The world could see me face it, but I’m going to rise even higher than I was before,” said Haney.
Unfortunately, Haney is not “great” because he’s never beaten anyone to show that he deserves that label. His best win is a controversial decision over Lomachenko in May 2023, in a fight that many boxing fans saw him lose.
Even with Haney’s massive size and youth advantage over Lomachenko, he appeared to lose that fight. The Nevada judges saved Haney with their scoring. In reality, Haney seemed to lose 9-3.
Without Haney being protected from the dangerous sharks in the 147-lb and 154-lb divisions, his career as a major player will soon be over. His performance against Ryan showed that he couldn’t take a punch and lacked the power to compete against good opposition.
If Haney is matched by one of the wily promoters, who carefully guides him around the dangerous waters at welterweight and junior middleweight, he can find success. But he won’t beat any of the talented fighters in those weight classes.
You can’t throw Haney in with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Sebastian Fundora, or Tim Tszyu and expect him to win. Haney would be food for those predators at 147 and 154. His career would be over.
Haney needs someone like Eddie Hearn to maneuver him as he did Edgar Berlanga for a big cash out against someone above his pay grade.
Hearn took the no-talent Berlanga, made him look like gold by feeding him two tomato cans from the UK, and then transmuted those empty wins into a major mega-million fight against Canelo Alvarez. Hearn can do that with Haney, too. It’s sneaky and unfair to the fans, but it’s possible.
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