Liam Paro says Devin Haney wanted “foolish money” in failed negotiations

IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro says Devin Haney asked for “silly money” and “wasn’t serious” in their failed attempts to negotiate a fight recently. The undefeated Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) says he gave up on putting together a fight because of Haney’s money expectations.

The surname Haney popularity has declined since his loss to Ryan Garcia last April, and he’s in no position to command the big paydays he would have had he won that fight.

The fact that Haney is still asking for “silly money” suggests that his loss to Ryan hasn’t registered with him because he’s still going on the precipice of being an undefeated fighter. We see this a lot with fighters. When they are beaten, they still believe they are judging the same wallets as before. It takes some mental catching up on their part to understand that things are different for them.

The New York State Athletic Commission expunged Haney’s loss from his record, but the fans still consider him beaten.

So he can’t act like he’s still in the same place as before and commanding the same money, because things are different now. He is a beaten fighter and he is considered a tumor by many fans. To get back to where he was before, he needs to rebuild his career by defeating the A-level fighters at 140 or 147. As big as Haney is, he should move up to 154 and challenge one of the champions in that weight class.

Paro will instead defend his IBF 140-lb title against #1-ranked Richardson Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) on December 7th at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The event will be shown live on DAZN.

It is doubtful whether Haney, 25, could have reached the IBF’s 10-lb rehydration limit for a fight against Paro. That will require Haney to delay full rehydration until after the morning weigh-in on the day of the fight against Paro. Couldn’t Haney keep his weight above 150 pounds until the morning of the fight?

“I’ve wanted that fight for a long time. He priced himself higher and asked for silly money. He doesn’t bring a belt to the table, so we just move on. We could see he wasn’t serious,” said Liam Paro Battle hype about his efforts to put together a fight against Devin Haney.

Paro isn’t saying what kind of money Haney asked for to challenge him for his IBF belt, but that’s beside the point now. He missed his chance.

Haney needs to start pushing for a rematch against Ryan Garcia as this is his best chance to get a big payday and return to the top. If Haney can’t get that fight because of his lawsuit, he should move up to 147 and challenge one of the champions in the division.

Fighting Mario Barrios or Eimantas Stanionis would give Haney the opportunity to capture a belt at welterweight to help land other important fights. These are very victorious champions, but they still have some pop in their punches. If Haney’s strike resistance was hurt by his loss to Ryan, he will have trouble against those champions.