Devin Haney says he’s not surprised about promoter Bob Arum’s comments about his disappointing PPV totals for his fight against WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis on DAZN on December 9th.
Haney believes Arum is bitter about his defeating his fighter Vasily Lomachenko last May, so he took the opportunity to criticize his pay-per-view buys for his clash against Prograis, which is rumored to have brought in a lowly 50K.
Those are alarming totals, suggesting that Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) can’t sell, and the fans aren’t impressed with his sleep-inducing Shakur-esque hit-and-run fighting style. Even for fights that are on free television, fans don’t want to see that garbage. They want to be entered, and they’re not getting that with ANY of Haney’s fights, not one.
The boxing public wants to get value for their money when they’re being asked to pay $75 to watch a fighter on PPV, and they don’t enjoy watching runners or fighters that clinch constantly when their opponents get close enough to throw.
Haney-Prograis was so awful to watch, just plain boring, thanks to Devin running after every punch thrown. Arum tried to let Haney know, but he’s closed off, unwilling to listen to him.
Unfortunately, that’s Haney’s style to the tee, and it leaves fans feeling stupid & ripped off for their money spent.
It has nothing to do with Arum being upset about his fighter Loma losing a controversial decision to Haney and has everything to do with Devin’s fights being as dull as his interviews.
For Haney not to recognize that Arum was telling the truth about his style is sad, suggesting that he’s not willing to listen to the legend when he’s speaking facts. Haney is in denial.
Haney reacts to Arum’s remarks
“I didn’t see the interview, but Bob [Arum] never has nothing nice to say about me, so it’s not a surprise after I beat his fighter [Vasily Lomachenko],” said Devin Haney to Ariel Helwani’s channel, reacting to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum saying that his fight with Regis Prograis brought in disappointing PPV numbers on DAZN on December 9th.
Arum is trying to tell Haney something to help him improve, but he doesn’t want to hear him. These are things that the legendary promoter would be telling him if he were promoting the 25-year-old.
Haney has got to make changes in his game if he wants to become a PPV star and not someone that DAZN is sticking behind a paywall, thinking people will buy his fights. They already got their answer with his clash against Prograis. Eventually, they’ll stop doing it when they see that he can’t sell.
Devin has got to stop running & holding if he wants to become a star because he’s a carbon copy of Shakur Stevenson’s fighting style, but slower hand speed and is less skilled.
“I haven’t gotten the pay-per-view numbers. I’m still waiting on the PPV numbers because I get paid on PPV,” said Haney when asked what the number of buys were for his fight against Prograis. “I don’t have the numbers yet, but shortly.
Ryan Garcia frontrunner
“I don’t know. I want to enjoy the holidays and decompress, even though I’ve been running and staying in shape, decompressing, and figuring out what’s next. I don’t know. Maybe March or April,” said Haney when he thought he’d be fighting in 2024.
Haney should be fighting better opposition than Ryan, but his career is essentially careful match-making and smoke & mirrors.
Rather than Haney testing himself against IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, or Tim Tszyu, he chooses the influencer Ryan for his fight. Weighing 165 lbs, Haney should be fighting at welterweight against Boots or at junior middleweight fighting Tszyu.
Ryan Garcia is cashing out, looking for the biggest paydays before he’s out of the sport. He has zero chance of defeating Haney but is taking the fight anyway, likely because he recognizes that he’ll get beaten repeatedly if he’s matched against the top 15 contenders in the 140-lb vision.
It’s either this or Golden Boy matches Ryan against the likes of Arnold Barboza Jr., Sandor Martin, or Gary Antuanne Rusell, and he’d lose badly to all of them, and the money he would get wouldn’t be nearly as much as he’ll get fighting Haney. Hence, he’s taking the payday cash-put against Devin and will soon be out of the sport. That’s the prediction that many fans have about Ryan.
“It’s because of his last performance [against Edwin De Los Santos] for sure. They see that it was nothing for me to duck,” said Haney about why no one is talking about wanting to see Shakur Stevenson fight him anymore. “We’ll see,” said Devin when asked if one day we could see a fight between him and Shakur.”
Haney can try to whitewash his ducking of Shakur any way he wants, but the truth is, he fled the 135-lb division when the WBC ordered him to face the New Jersey native because he saw the writing on the wall. Shakur is the originator of the style that Haney has copied, and he can’t beat him.
That’s why Haney moved up to 140 because if he stayed at 135, he’d have lost to Shakur, and his dreams of being a PPV fighter would be out the window.
“Yeah, we [Ryan Garcia] fought six times in the amateurs. It was 3 & 3. We’ll settle the score in the pros,” said Haney about him and Ryan Garcia meeting in a tiebreaker when or if they do fight in March or April.
“We’re still in the beginning stages, but that’s really the only fight that I’m negotiating to that extent right now. Yeah, that’s the frontrunner for sure,” said Haney on Ryan being the frontrunner for his next fight in 2024.
Ryan Garcia does NOT deserve to be fighting for any world title because he just lost last year, and the guy that he just fought on December 2nd, Oscar Duarte, isn’t a light welterweight. He’s a fringe contender cherry-picked from the 135-lb division to make Ryan look good.
It’s unfair to the contenders in the 140-lb division, like Barboza, Gary Antuanne Russell, and Sandor Martin, that Ryan is being allowed to leapfrog over them to get a title shot that he doesn’t deserve against Haney.
“We grew up together, and I know Ryan well. We know each other,” said Haney. “Pretty soon, we step into the ring and we compete at the highest level. He believes in himself, and I believe in myself. It’s nothing to really. I know Ryan and know him really well.
“He went in there and made a good adjustment, but that’s about it,” said Haney about his thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s last fight against Oscar Duarte on December 2nd.
Haney initially laughed when he was asked about Ryan’s performance against Duarte because it was poor beyond words. He was turning his back to Duarte, cowering all night when attacked, and the referee was surprisingly giving his opponents warnings for hitting him in the back rather than telling Ryan to stop doing that.
“The fight was a little shaky at first. He was trying some new moves, and then he made the adjustment and knocked him out. He knocked him out and got the victory. That’s all that matters,” said Haney on Ryan getting the victory over the fringe lightweight contender.
