Bill Haney insists that Devin Haney is still functioning on all eight cylinders mentally after the beating he took against Ryan Garcia last year.
In the Hot Seat
When asked if Devin was okay, Bill talked about the “aura” he gives off. It seemed like he was question-dodging by speaking in generalities, talking mumbo-jumbo that made little sense.
How he danced around the subject gave the impression that he was in the hot seat with the spotlight on him being interrogated. He did not seem eager to answer the questions.
Fans want to know if Haney is still physically present and can handle his next fight on May 2nd against the dangerous Jose Ramirez at Times Square in New York City. If Devin is not okay, he’s not going to last long against Ramirez. Bill knows Haney must win this fight to get the rematch with Ryan in October. A loss here means the rematch won’t happen.
The former WBC and WBO 140-lb champion Ramirez (29-2, 19 KOs) has already made it clear he’s going to be swinging for the fences. He’s going to test whether Haney can still take a punch.
“Being an Olympian, unified champion and he has a nice left hook,” said Bill Haney to Cigar Talk about Devin Haney coming back from a long layoff to face 2012 Olympian and former WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez on May 2nd.
In other words, Bill picked Ramirez for Haney’s comeback opponent. Obviously, he couldn’t choose a bum because Devin is being paid well by Turki to be on the Fatal Fury card on May 2nd. Bill likely couldn’t choose any lower than Ramirez for Turki to agree. It would have been interesting if Gary Antuanne Russell had been chosen as Haney’s opponent for the May 2nd card. But if he were selected, it would have been too risky because Haney would lose, and that would ruin the rematch with Ryan.
“So, why not come back with that same look and get ready for that ultimate grudge match that has to happen, that they didn’t want to happen,” said Bill, implying that Ryan Garcia didn’t want the rematch with Haney. “Both vocally, whether it was Oscar [De La Hoya], whether it was Ryan, they said it wasn’t going to happen. Of course, we made it happen.”
Ryan would have taken the rematch with Haney. He wasn’t trying to dodge the fight because why would he for a clash that he so easily won? Kingry wanted Haney to drop the lawsuit before he’d agree to the rematch.
“It took a lot of business for it to happen. I always want to salute Devin for being young, 26, and always being able to handle his business in the right way,” said Bill. “Picking a guy doesn’t mean that you do cherry-picking like some of the other fighters because you can go cherry-picking wrong.”
Some would argue that most of Haney’s career fights have been cherry-picks. The only ones that didn’t resemble that were against Ryan and Vasily Lomachenko. Haney captured his two-division titles against George Kambosos and Regis Prograis. That’s not exactly Murderer’s Row.
“When you talk about doing a lawsuit. The reason why it’s magnified is because it’s Devin,” said Bill. “They played dirty by saying that nobody wanted to see the fight [rematch]. We negotiated if they get in the ring, there’s no lawsuit,” said Bill about how he negotiated to have Devin drop the lawsuit if Ryan Garcia agreed to the rematch.
Bill still doesn’t understand why fans roasted Haney over his lawsuit. The reason Haney took so much criticism from fans had nothing to do with personal dislike for him. It was because it was a sign of weakness, and fans can’t respect that.
Bill’s “Aura” Talk
“Devin is the most skilled fighter in boxing when the playing field is level. He’s something special,” said Bill. “He doesn’t need any PEDs. He doesn’t need any of that. Speak to the fans about the aura that he has. If you can come up around a person and you can feel good about them, then you know their aura is intact.
“You know their s*** is straight,” said Bill when asked if Haney is okay mentally after the beating he took against Ryan Garcia last year on April 20th. “I can feel he’s hungry, determined and already accomplished 26-year-old guy,” said Bill, insisting that Devin is still cogent after the beating he took.
Last Updated on 04/16/2025
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