Devin Haney had been expected to take on Keyshawn Davis in October, until the latter withdrew from the contest, and Haney has now been accused of using one fighter as a ‘decoy’, in order to gain leverage in negotiations for an alternate fight.
Davis had been calling for a shot at Haney throughout 2026 and was eventually mandated by the WBO for a shot at the welterweight champion, only to then pull out of the fight after Top Rank won the purse bids, believing that he was worth more than the $2 million purse he was set to earn for his title challenge.
Since then, Haney has been linked to a unification bout with newly-crowned IBF titleholder Liam Paro, but it was then reported that the Aussie had priced himself out of the scrap, with Haney appearing to move on to a dust-up with WBA (Regular) champion Jack Catterall instead.
When that news became public, fans questioned whether Catterall should proceed with the opportunity or not, given the fact that he is well positioned for a shot at the victor of Rolando Romero and Teofimo Lopez’s WBA (Super) title bout next weekend.
On X, Catterall’s manager Sam Jones shared his concern that Catterall was being used as a pawn by Haney, hoping to drive Paro’s asking price down.
“What I hope isn’t the case is that Jack is been used as a decoy so that Paro is scared into taking the fight for less money than he’s wanting.
“All I can tell you is we’ve accepted the fight and the date and location, so if the fight doesn’t happen it’s not on Jack.”
Now, Catterall has spoken out, admitting that he believes Jones’ fears have come true, insinuating that Haney-Paro is now back on the cards and that he will instead wait to take on either Romero or Lopez for the WBA crown later in the year.
“Devin was never going to fight me it was this [what Jones feared] all along. I’ll be in Vegas next week for Rolly-Lopez and I’m in line for the winner.”
Jones has since confirmed to Boxing News that he believes Haney and Paro have come to an agreement, with Saturday, October 3, understood to be the date for the proposed unification.
