Devin Haney reacted on social media to Artur Beterbiev rating him at #5 for his personal list of pound-for-pound fighters, saying that he will be “#1 P4P.” Not surprisingly, fans are roasting Haney over his prediction of being #1 pound-for-pound.
To become #1 P4P, Haney would need to beat some top-level fighters in whichever division he plans on fighting in when he eventually returns to the ring. Some fans question whether Haney is only interested in a cash-out rematch against Ryan and will then retire after he’s beaten again by him.
Assuming Haney is going to move up to 147, he would need to beat these welterweights for him to become #1 P4P:
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
- Brian Norman Jr.
- Mario Barrios
- Eimantas Stanionis
Beating all four of those fighters would potentially result in Haney being given a top spot in the pound-for-pound ratings. He may still have to beat someone else to get the #1 pound-for-pound position because only Boots Ennis is highly rated from that group. Haney has the size to fight at 154.
So, he could move to that weight class and pick off Terence Crawford, Sebastian Fundora, or Tim Tszyu to get the #1 pound-for-pound position. Beating Boots and then one or two of these guys might do the trick for Haney.
Many fans view the former two-division world champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) as washed after his 12-round majority decision loss to Ryan Garcia earlier this year on April 20th. Haney was dropped three times in that fight and looked overmatched. He hasn’t fought since that loss and is now suing Ryan for several things.
They point out that undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev mentioned last week that he doesn’t watch boxing.
For Haney to come back from that defeat, it could be difficult because his opponents will follow the Ryan blueprint by targeting him with short left hooks to the head. Haney couldn’t block that shot all night and was repeatedly hurt.
But these twitter trolls know more than Beterbiev right? I will be #1 P4P InshaAllah https://t.co/7DKHzfQzLW
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) October 14, 2024
“Devin needs to find his confidence again. So, I don’t think it would behoove him to go right back into a rematch, especially with Ryan Garcia,” said Chris Algieri to Probox TV about Devin Haney needing to regain his confidence before fighting Ryan Garcia again.
“I think he needs to find his legs again, find his combinations and his timing. All that is going to be important as a boxer.”
“I gave Haney a hard time, but I still think it’s soft that he’s suing, and he’s suing for a lot of different things. A lot of different things, and he’s hoping that one of these things will stick,” said Tim Bradley.
Read the full article here
