Promotional free agent Devin Haney and his dad, Bill, don’t appear willing to do what they must to get the mega-fight against the ‘Face of Boxing’ Gervonta Davis by signing with PBC or an affiliate to make the clash happen. Papa Haney likes to name-drop Gervonta, but he’s not eager to get that fight made for Devin.
I see this as a clear example of Haney and his dad, Bill, using Tank Davis’ name for clout to increase the popularity of Dev without him risking his hide against the powerful ‘Face of Boxing,’ who beat the living daylights out of him when they sparred.
The Promotional Roadblock
Bill Haney has spent the better part of his son Devin’s promotion for his fight against Ryan Garcia on April 20th talking about wanting Dev to face Tank Davis next. But when Bill was asked why he didn’t sign with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) or a promotional team associated with them, like Mayweather Promotions or TGB Promotions, to make the fight happen with Tank, he danced around the subject and showed no interest.
When Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) wanted to fight Vasily Lomachenko, he signed with Top Rank to make the fight happen.
Likewise, when Devin and Bill wanted to fight WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis, they went with Matchroom Boxing to get the fight done. Then, when they wanted Ryan Garcia, they teamed up with Golden Boy.
But when it comes to Devin getting a fight with Tank Davis, he’s not signing with PBC to get the fight done, which makes some believe that Bill and Dev are just using Gervonta’s name for clout purposes to raise their profile without having any serious interest in fighting him.
Bill Haney’s Evasive Response
“If that was the only way the fight could happen, and you can see the fighter we’re fighting [Ryan Garcia] right now fought under Golden Boy fought a fight with them [PBC against Tank Davis]. So that kills that narrative,” said Bill Haney to Thaboxingvoice when asked why he won’t have his son, Devin, sign with PBC, TGB, or Mayweather Promotions to make the fight with Tank Davis happen.
“If Oscar [De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions] is the guy that you prefer to work with. Remember, there’s an opportunity for somebody to be the liaison to making the thing happen if we can’t. So, if the fight is on the table and they prefer to go through Oscar and they prefer to introduce us to Oscar, then what can we say?
“You don’t think Oscar would want to make the fight happen between Devin and Tank?” said Bill, sounding a little wacky here, given that his son, Devin, won’t be with Golden Boy after their April 20th title defense against their fighter Ryan Garcia.
“We’ve been a free agent, and that hasn’t helped,” said Bill when asked why he won’t have Devin sign with PBC to get the Tank Davis fight after Dev’s clash with Ryan.