Devin Haney’s father and trainer, Bill, had previously announced his next fight as locked in. Now, it has collapsed.
After winning the WBO welterweight world title last November against Brian Norman Jr, dropping the hard-hitting champion once on his way to a unanimous decision victory, Haney opened himself up to some of the most exciting match-ups in the sport.
147lbs has typically been one of the most thrilling divisions in the sport, and the current stars in and around the weight keep that tradition alive. Haney has made it his business to collect belts, so to do so in these new ranks he would have to target either Ryan Garcia, who holds the WBC, Rolando Romero, the WBA champ, or Lewis Crocker, who won the vacant IBF belt last year.
The most intriguing fight for fans would be a rematch with Garcia, who faced Haney back in 2023, winning on the night before the result was overturned to a no contest when it was found that he had failed a doping test.
That match-up seems set to marinate, however, and Haney entered talks with ‘Rolly’ Romero for a two-belt unification. Bill Haney had previously said it was a done deal for May 30 in Las Vegas, however it has become clear this week that the sides have failed to reach a final agreement.
Speaking on social media, Romero explained, in his opinion, why that is the case.
“I tried my absolute hardest to make this Devin fight. Gave him 50% of the split – of everything – and apparently it’s not enough money. It’s a unification, it’s on PBC, Amazon Prime, it’s a pay-per-view. On top of that, you get Amazon promoting it, PBC promoting, me promoting it. Because Devin cannot promote anything to save his life. We’re talking about dude who was on my undercard.
“It’s actually insane. Obviously he’s afraid to get hit. We say what [I] did to Ryan with no effort at all, so can you imagine what I’d do to Devin?”
Haney hit back on social media, saying there was no financial guarantee in the fight contract, that ‘big money’ is not the same in his world as it is Romero’s, and that a 50/50 split was not realistic.
Both men now re-enter the market for their next fights, but a rematch with Garcia next now looks unlikely for Haney, with the WBC champion recently revealing he is set to face Teofimo Lopez
