Eddie Hearn said Devin Haney wanted to be paid well for his draft fight and not the kind of money those type of matches typically pay. He feels that BLK Prime might have been willing to pay Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) the kind of money he wanted.
Price setup
According to Hearn, Devin still wants the money that will be paid for compelling fights that the fans want to see. That’s unrealistic for a setup fight designed to get the rust out, showcase him against a feeder opponent and boost his confidence.
Hearn says Turki Al-Shiekh wants big fights, and that doesn’t align with what Haney needs with a tune-up to prepare for a rematch with Ryan Garcia. If Devin faced a good opponent on Turki’s card, there’s a good chance she’d lose if it was a halfway decent guy with some pop in his punches.
Turki probably won’t give Haney a soft job like George Kambosos Jr., Regis Prograis or Jorge Linares. He will want real quality if Jaron Ennis, Richardson Hitchins, Eimantas Stanionis or Brian Norman Jr. All of those fighters will likely beat Haney in style.
Hearn told Boxing scene that Haney wasn’t the type of guy who would have been willing to accept $500,000 to $1 million for a tune-up. He “Want to be paid well” for a fight that usually wouldn’t rate that kind of dough.
“For the amount of money he wants to have a comeback fight, it’s not easy because generally a comeback fight is not a great fight. Who is going to pay for it? If you can get someone to pay good money for a comeback fight, maybe it’s BLK Prime.”
This suggests that Haney still considers himself a big name or a champion, despite coming off a 12-round majority decision loss to Ryan Garcia on April 20 of last year. The New York State Athletic Commission later overturned the loss due to Ryan’s positive test for the banned PED Ostarine, but fans still considered it a loss.
Haney didn’t look like a champion or a top-10 level fighter at all against Garcia, and certainly not a guy who deserved to be “paid well” for a tune-up.
It will be interesting to see who Devin fights on March 25th on BLK Prime. Will they let him fight a tomato can and pay him top dollar, or will they insist on value for their money? If so, Haney will likely lose and lose his chances for the rematch with Garcia unless he is willing to fight him in defeat. I wouldn’t put it past Kingry to do so, as he doesn’t seem interested in doing risky battles either.
“March, I’m back,” Devin Haney said on X. BLK then replied: “See you on March 25th on BLK Prime.”
