By Sean Jones: Bill Haney went off on Saturday in reaction to being told that Bernard Hopkins had criticized his son Devin Haney.
Bill feels that Hopkins, who he labels as a former “cat burglar” who spent time in prison, should be saying positive things about Devin (29-0, 15 KOs) and other young fighters instead of “downing” them when a mic is put in front of him.
Bill says undisputed lightweight champion Haney will be making more money in his next fight on May 20th against Vasyl Lomachenko than the former two-division world champion Hopkins did during his entire 28-year professional career.
It’s hard to believe Haney will make more money in his fight with Lomachenko than Hopkins did in almost 30 years as a pro. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hopkins’ net worth is $45 million.
Haney’s net worth is a mere $5 million in comparison, which is nowhere near the green that Bernard accumulated in his long career.
There’s plenty of room to criticize Haney when you look at his weak resume because he hasn’t beaten anyone other than George Kambosos Jr, who was little more than a paper champion when he briefly held the IBF, WBA & WBO lightweight titles after he defeated the shell of Teofimo Lopez.
Unfortunately for Bill, Devin likely doesn’t have a lot of time left before his career starts its downward descent. If he stays at lightweight beyond his fight against Vasyl Lomachenko, he’ll need to face Shakur Stevenson, but he’s not going to win that fight.
When Haney moves up to 140, he’s going to get picked off by the killers in that weight class, like Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor, Gary Antuanne Russell, Liam Paro, Arnold Barboza, and Jose Ramirez.
Bill Haney slams Hopkins
“I really believe Bernard Hopkins has lost touch with reality. It’s really said that Bernard Hopkins would have not good things to say about young kids like Devin that don’t drink, don’t smoke, eat right, make weight, are world champions and are similar to him,” said Bill Haney to Fighthype when told that Bernard Hopkins had criticized Devin Haney.
“Actually, Bernard is nothing like Devin. Devin is a better fighter than him and, overall better person. Bernard, when you were 23, you were in jail for being a cat burglar, a petty thief at 23.
“Dev ain’t been to jail, and he’s an undisputed champion at 23. You were in the penitentiary. So what do you mean guys aren’t like you? you became a world champion at 30 years old. I don’t remember you taking the ‘Executioner’ and making it a company. You didn’t have any dolls or any merch, so how successful can you be from everything that you did?
“Devin, in his next fight, he’ll make more money than you did your life. At 23, you were still in the penitentiary for armed robbery. So how can you be anything like my son? You’re nothing like my son.
“I wish they’d take the mic out of your face because you’re not being a standup African American dude that came out of a penitentiary. You had your shot, and you got a second chance in life. You’re too ignorant to recognize that because you’re so far removed from the penitentiary because you’ve lost touch with reality.
Bernard, with no power
What we’re supposed to be doing is uplifting these youngsters. I thought he was a match-maker, but I found out the man ain’t nothing but a greeter like Joe Louis was at the Silver Slipper,” said Bill. “You’re a greeter for Golden Boy. You don’t have no signing power.
“You ain’t signed nobody, and you ain’t done nothing for our community but sit up and down people. That’s all you do, Bernard. He ain’t helping nobody and he’s always got something negative to say.
“Bernard, Devin was undisputed at 23 when you was still in the jail. Hopefully, you had a poker protecting your a**. We was defending belts in Australia. So I don’t know what you talking about. These people are so twisted.
“If you say some bull s**t about my son, I’m getting on your a**. I don’t care who you are. It was foul what he did. It was foul what he said. I’m talking about Devin in particular. I’m not talking about none of the other fighters.
“He got the same stuff that you got,” Bill Haney said about Hopkins. “Your biggest accomplishment was being undisputed. He got that too. So what’s all the fake a** talk for? It’s not personal with Bernard. It’s not personal with anybody like that. I’m just responding to what he’s saying. That’s all.
“That’s like me saying that the fighters from yesteryear wasn’t s**t because they didn’t have no money, they didn’t have social media, they didn’t have distraction that young fighters have. You can look at it another way, and people say, ‘Bill, how can you?’ So I don’t say it,” Haney said.
Devin already got the belts
“It’s hard to compare the eras, but in my opinion, what Devin is doing, he would fit in that era based on his style and all that,” Bill Haney continued. “I’m not saying nothing bad about them dudes. Do you know what I mean?
“I look at a lot of s**t and learn a lot of s**t from them, and in this particular case, I learned what not to say about boxing and the state of boxing. You know what I liked, and I previously liked about Bernard is that he made the mistakes that we make in the community as African Americans, and I know how hard it is to go into that penitentiary to come out and turn it around.
“For him to turn it around, I always gave him his props and to live the life that he lived. I just don’t know when he started downing other fighters, and this is what we work to. He was the one with four belts, so we wanted four belts just like him.
“He switched up the whole s**t when he started working with Oscar [De La Hoya]. It’s hard for me to believe that the money is the motivation. It’s hard for me to believe the belts are the motivation. So which one does it appear to be with him?
“You’re not giving anybody their props that started their own company before you. You’re not giving them their props if they’re in a big fight before you. You’re not giving them their props if they have more belt before you. So what do a person got to do, Bernard?
“They don’t got to do that in boxing. Devin already got the belts, and he’s got social media. It’s a great fight; it’s a great event to make happen, and I would think that Bernard would have the wherewithal to have enough to where he could be the mediator between us and our team to make a fight happen outside of saying it would be Oscar are Diaz or one of those.
“He’s not the mediator,” said Bill about Hopkins. “He’s not running around trying to mediate with the young brothers to talk and try and make the s**t happen. He sit on there and always say some s**t and down somebody. But he don’t ever come here and say, ‘This is what you need to be doing, young brother. I’ve seen this.’ Never, not one time.
“Did he ever say, ‘The hook look good, this look good, that look good.’ Man, come on. If that ain’t the most fraudulent s**t ever,” said Bill.