LAS VEGAS – On the brink of believing they had a welterweight title fight finalized with fellow unbeaten and former lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis, three-division champion Devin Haney and his father, trainer, and manager, Bill Haney, awoke disappointed Saturday.
The 15-0 (10 KOs) Davis on Friday rejected the $2.13 million he was due to earn as a result of the WBO purse-bid process conducted earlier this week. The Davis cut was 25 per cent of the $8 million-plus that promoter Top Rank presented in its winning bid for a bout the Haneys wanted to take to Atlanta in October.
In a Saturday morning conversation with BoxingScene, Bill Haney expressed dismay at the bout falling apart, depriving Devin Haney, 33-0 (15 KOs), of at least his guaranteed $6.412 million purse while extending an absence that dates to his November 22 unanimous-decision victory over former WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jnr.
“Well, the usually verbose Bill Haney is gutted today, got it in the worst way,” Haney told BoxingScene. “Because everything about me and what we’ve done has been strategic, systematic, calculated, and all for the people and the culture.
“And this was the time of all times, to go to Atlanta, to the State Farm Arena, and have two tremendously talented fighters compete for the WBO welterweight championship of the world… I’m extremely gutted.”
Despite four-division champion and Davis’ close friend Shakur Stevenson quickly reacting to Davis’ withdrawal by taking to “X” to revisit the effort to stage a Haney-Stevenson clash at 144lbs, Bill Haney admitted he’s uncertain what his son’s next career step will be with Norman Jnr next in the WBO line.
He said there was no reason to bemoan the disparity in the Haney-Davis pay, speaking from a position of financial comfort after signing a multi-fight agreement with DAZN.
“Normally, I have extreme optimism about the game. From what you’ve seen Devin do… I can’t help but be thankful and grateful that we’re in a position, that we’re on the side of the street to make all of the fights happen in boxing,” Bill Haney said. “But the fighters have to want to do it. There’s places in our agreement that there’s a carve-out for each and every big fight that Devin could be in. And I would be derelict in my responsibility to not only him and the community to organize, arrange, or participate in anything different.”
Returning to talks with Stevenson would put the Haneys on the opposing side of a bargaining table with the same management team representing Davis, James Prince and Josh Dubin.
“We were negotiating with that team for a fight [with Stevenson] that would determine who’s No. 1 pound-for-pound on everyone’s list,” Bill Haney said. “Make no mistake about it, Devin is pound-for-pound No. 1 on my list now and and on a lot of people’s – our team and a lot of other journalists. But the one list that is considered pound-for-pound [gospel], that has Devin and Shakur on it… we could have that fight to justify who is the best, undeniably.”
Bill Haney said prior discussions with Zuffa Boxing for a Stevenson bout encountered a sticking point with Stevenson’s request to fight Haney at a catchweight of 144lbs.
However, an official familiar with the Haney-Zuffa talks told BoxingScene that Devin Haney signed an agreement with Zuffa to stage a fight against Stevenson at 144lbs by October 31.
Bill Haney said that is not true.
“I’m the one who said ‘no’ to the catchweight. [Stevenson and his team] said drop the [WBO welterweight] belt, and I said, ‘No. We’ll drop our nuts and defend the belt,’” Bill Haney said.
“We were telling Shakur, ‘Come up and try to win a fifth division title, and we’ll fight to be pound-for-pound king.’ It’d be a mega-fight, a super-fight for the ages. I thought for sure that the Shakur Stevenson fight would take.
“Him wanting us not to be a champion in one of the hottest divisions, with [WBA champion] Rolly [Romero] ready to defend his belt [August 22] against Teofimo [Lopez] and [WBC champion] Ryan [Garcia] defending his against Conor [Benn on September 12] … why would we just drop our belt?
“Tell Shakur and everyone, we want a fight for the people.”
When those original Stevenson talks broke down, Bill Haney said Prince and Dubin, “the exact team that works for Davis, went and did an extremely hard feat and got Keyshawn accelerated up the list with help from the WBO, to be in position to fight Devin at 147lbs for the title.
“Shout out to the WBO for standing on business.”
That type of unpredictable movement in the rankings, Bill Haney said, makes him uncertain what his son’s next move will be.
Does he feel tricked by the developments? Did he make any moves he regrets?
“At this level where boxing supremacy lives, I don’t believe in antics,” Bill Haney said. “I believe in you either step up or you get exposed.
“You know, I’m gutted right now. To tell you what’s next would be me not telling the truth.”
Yet, the mutual desire for a Stevenson-Haney showdown makes it logical that the parties will reconvene to attempt to strike that deal.
“Shakur Stevenson is the WBO 140 champion. And, for sure, him and his team, Josh Dubin, and Jay Prince, they know how to go to the WBO and become the mandatory for Devin’s belt,” Bill Haney said.
“So, you know, tell them to redirect their GPS the same way they did it [for Davis]. You know what I mean? If they’re the bad, mother-fucking team that everybody says they are, then go do it again. You know what I mean?
“They do that, and they’ll get all the action in the world. If they don’t do that, then, of course, we know that they’re [just] full of antics.”
If that bout can’t be made, Bill Haney said his son will go to whatever fight “the people are screaming for.
“If the people put the mark on someone’s back, then you know ‘Debo’ [Devin Haney] is going to go get it,” Bill Haney said.
“Hey, the welterweight division is on fire, and the king of the welterweight division is ‘Debo,’ Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney. Mic drop.”
