Devin Haney slams Ryan Garcia and Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr

By Boxing News - 10/08/2021 - Comments

By Max Schramm: Devin Haney lit into Ryan Garcia and Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr. on Friday in blasting then verbally for choosing to pass up their mandatory spots to challenge him for his WBC lightweight title.

Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) is shocked and disappointed that Ryan and Jo Jo Diaz Jr. are ducking him. Devin says he can’t remember when he saw mandatory contenders passing up on a world title shot after taking part in title eliminators.

Instead of the #2 WBC Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) and interim WBC champion Jo Jo Diaz Jr. (32-1-1, 15 KOs) challenging Haney for his title, they’ll be fighting next month November 27th, on DAZN in Los Angeles.

Ryan and Diaz Jr. can make good money fighting each other on DAZN in Los Angeles. The fighters are popular in California, and DAZN will pay them well to fight in the headliner on November 27th.

Haney is thinking of moving up to 140 to fight in a title eliminator in that weight class. If Devin earns a mandatory position, he’ll be in a great spot to fight for one of the titles after undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor vacates his title to move up to 147.

Haney trashes Ryan Garcia & Jo Jo

“That’s some bull s*** because this is the second or third time that you’ve seen this,” said Haney in reacting to his two mandatory challengers Ryan Garcia and Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr., deciding to fight each other instead of him.

Image: Devin Haney slams Ryan Garcia and Joseph 'Jo Jo' Diaz Jr

“I’ve never seen this with no other fighter in history where two mandatories opt-out not to fight the champion and fight each other to fight for another mandatory position to fight the champion,” said Haney.

“Have you all ever heard of this? This is unbelievable to me, and people care about that fight [Ryan Garcia vs. Joseph Diaz Jr]. Those guys shouldn’t even be fighting each other.

“I said I would fight Jo-Jo. I’m letting all of you know I will fight Jo Jo, and I will fight Ryan Garcia. Why are they fighting each other? I don’t care about that fight, to be honest.

“I don’t want that fight to happen. As I said, I want to fight Jo Jo; I want to fight Ryan. I want to fight those guys. They shouldn’t be fighting each other.

“You tell me. You know what it is,” said Haney when asked why Ryan Garcia and Joseph Diaz Jr. don’t want to fight him.

Haney needs this as a sign that he’s not famous enough for Ryan and Diaz Jr. to want to put effort into fighting him.

They wouldn’t be better off beating Haney for his WBC title because the 135-lb division is thinning out with Teofimo Lopez moving up to 140 and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis likely to campaign in that weight class full time soon.

If Ryan and Jo Jo Diaz beat Haney to win his WBC 135-lb title, they would soon need to defend it against #1 WBC contender Vasily Lomachenko, which wouldn’t be good for either of them. A healthy Lomachenko likely beats Ryan and Jo Jo easily.

As a result, it doesn’t pay off for Garcia and Diaz Jr. to fight Haney for his WBC title because they would be in the hot seat almost immediately after winning that belt.

Devin to fight in December

“I’m entertaining it because it’s realistic,” said Haney about him considering moving up to light welterweight.

“One thing I won’t do if I go up to 140 is I’m not going to drop the [WBC] belt at 135, and I’m not going to give them an out that easy. These dudes hope I go up to 140 and drop the belt at 135 so they can pick it up. No, it isn’t happening.

“I was talking to Mauricio [Sulaiman] about. If I do go up to 140, can I keep my belt? And he said yes,” said Haney. “I may go up to 140 to fight for an interim to secure a mandatory position against a champion, but we’ll see.

“I haven’t campaigned at 140 yet, so we don’t know how it’s going to work out. I’ve been looking at 140, but it’s kind of taken right now. All those guys have fights, so we’ll see.

We’re looking at December,” said Haney when asked when he’ll be fighting next. “Before the end of the year, I’m going to fight. As I said, we’re still negotiating with a few of these guys, so we’ll see what happens.

“If Ryan and Jo Jo aren’t set in stone yet, Richard Commey and Loma are set in stone. Any of those guys.

Tank is going to kill his a**. Rolly is trash,” said Haney in reacting to the December 5th fight between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero. ”

“They’re ducking me. I can fight on any network. Right now, I’m still a promotional free agent.

“I am working with Eddie Hearn, but that doesn’t stop me from fighting on any other network and making any fight happen. So let them know that,” said Haney.

Devin didn’t give any hints on who he’ll be fighting in December, but there are not many great options for him. He’s coming off a win over Jorge Linares last May, and he didn’t look good in that fight.

Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn may choose to match him against a Brit like Maxi Hughes.

A fight between Haney and Hughes would play well in England but not in the United States. Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz would be a better option for Haney, but that’s a tough fight for him.

Devin facing a puncher like Cruz after being hurt repeatedly in his last fight by Linares wouldn’t be a good idea.

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