Devin Haney insists he’ll “rise higher than before”

Devin Haney is confident that he will bounce back from his loss to Ryan Garcia and come back even “higher” than before. It’s a tall order for former two-division world champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) as he looked awful when he was beaten by Ryan last April.

That loss to Haney showed that he lacks the chin, strength and talent to stay with the best at 140. Although Haney won titles in two weight classes, his victories against George Kambosos Jr. and Regis Prograis came. He didn’t fight talented fighters to win his titles.

For Haney to rise “higher” than before, he will have to start getting quality wins without controversy and not use size as a tool. He has a reputation for being a weight bully, so he needs to move up to 147 or 154.

Haney, 25, did not say what direction he would take to get back to the levels he was fighting at before his 12-round decision loss to Garcia on April 20. It is believed that Haney will be forced to move up to 147 because he quickly outgrew the light welterweight division after just two fights.

Promoter Eddie Hearn recommends that Haney take a tune-up because he believes his career could be ruined if he comes up against a good opponent and suffers another loss.

Haney’s PPV numbers:

• 500,000: Ryan Garcia
• 55,000: Regis Progress
• 150,000: Vasily Lomachenko

Hearn points out that the problem with Haney taking a tuneup is his inflated purse demands. Devin’s past PPV numbers aren’t good enough for him to be counted on to bring in revenue against a tune-up level opponent. He will have to fight someone well.

Haney will likely want a lot of money that won’t be there for a tune-up without His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stepping in to pay him untold millions for a simple confidence booster. If Turki isn’t going to help, Haney will be forced to fight someone good on PPV, and Hearn thinks that could end badly for him.

“I wanted to be the best. So, nothing has changed. Just a little adversity. That’s just part of it. Every great one has faced adversity. I don’t care who you are,” Devin Haney told All The Smoke Fight channeltalk about where he is coming off a loss to Ryan Garcia.

“The world could see me face it, but I’m going to rise even higher than I was before,” Haney said.

Unfortunately, Haney is not “great” because he has never beaten anyone to show that he deserves that label. His best win is a controversial decision over Lomachenko in May 2023, in a fight that many boxing fans saw him lose.

Even with Haney’s massive size and youth advantage over Lomachenko, he appeared to lose that fight. The judges in Nevada saved Haney with their score. In reality, Haney appeared to lose 9-3.

Without Haney being protected from the dangerous sharks in the 147-lb and 154-lb divisions, his career as a major player will soon be over. His performance against Ryan showed that he couldn’t take a punch and didn’t have the strength to compete against good opposition.

If Haney is matched by one of the smart promoters, guiding him carefully around the dangerous waters at welterweight and junior middleweight, he may find success. But he won’t beat any of the talented fighters in those weight classes.

You can’t throw Haney in with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Sebastian Fundora or Tim Tszyu and expect him to win. Haney would be food for those predators at 147 and 154. His career would be over.

Haney needs someone like Eddie Hearn to maneuver him like he did Edgar Berlanga for a big cash out against someone above his pay grade.

Hearn took the no-talent Berlanga, made him look like gold by feeding him two tomato cans from the UK, and then parlayed those empty wins into a huge mega-million fight against Canelo Alvarez. Hearn can do that with Haney too. It’s sneaky and unfair to the fans, but it’s possible.