Hear Tags Devin Haney’s Norman Win “Pretty Boring”

Promoter Eddie Hearn today reiterated that Devin Haney’s performance against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. was “pretty boring” for him to watch last Saturday night in Riyadh.

Hearn points out that Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) hurt “quite a few times” and he could have gone for the knockout. Instead, he fought in a safety-first way, jabbing and holding a lot. Devin won by a 12-round unanimous decision, but that left him open to criticism.

“I didn’t find it exciting to watch. Devin is a hell of a fighter and hard to beat. I just don’t think he’s very good to watch at the moment,” said Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn. The pounding ground about Devin Haney after his performance against Brian Norman Jr. last weekend.

Hearn compared Haney’s performance unfavorably to super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, who fought Fernando Martinez on the undercard. He notes that ‘Bam’ attacked non-stop by going for a knockout. Devin fights nothing like him.

“That was the same comment from everyone I sat around. But that’s how Devin fights now,” Hearn said. “I think Devin at 147 is a lot more powerful and dangerous than he thinks he is. Norman is hurt badly. He was actually hurt and buzzed quite a few times. So for me, Devin was able to step on the gas there and stop him.”

When Norman Haney started to press in the fourth, that’s when the hitting began. Devin went into a preemptive defense mode and stayed that way for the rest of the game. The look on Turki Alalahikh’s face in the front row during the fight was priceless. He looked unhappy, unsmiling, arms folded, and the look of someone not pleased with what he was looking at.

“He could have stopped Brian Norman and looked sensational. What he did was be smart in there, get behind the jab. There was a lot of holding. I was watching as a fan and I found it pretty boring,” Hearn said of Haney’s effort.