Devin Haney says he wants either Richard Commey or Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr as his next fight in October or November. Former IBF lightweight champion Commey (30-3, 27 KOs) recently called Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) out on social media, so he’s excited about that.
Unfortunately for Haney, Commey is now in negotiations to potentially face Vasily Lomachenko on December 11th on ESPN. With that fight potentially off the table, Haney may need to look elsewhere for an opponent for October or November.
Likewise, former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph Diaz Jr (32-1-1, 15 KOs) is expected to face Ryan Garcia. That fight still isn’t official yet, but it’s looking like it’ll happen.
Haney says he wants all the top dogs at 135, but none of them are showing interest at the moment. Aside from ‘Jo Jo’ and Commey, Haney says he wants to fight these guys:
- Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Teofimo Lopez
Haney targeting Commey & Diaz Jr
“I’ve been calling for big fights for a while now. Everybody knows I want to make big fights happen,” said Haney to Fighthype. “Linares was one step closer to that to show that I was dominating the lightweight division, and I am one of the top dogs.
“I got to keep winning and beat these top guys to show that I am the top dog. I want all of them. Right now, we’re looking at Richard Commey and Jo Jo Diaz. Jo Jo Diaz is lagging; he’s not really showing that he wants to fight.
“He says things to the media, but in reality, he hasn’t really shown [interest]. We’re also looking at Richard Commey if we can’t get a fight against Jo Jo Diaz. Richard Commey is interested in fighting Loma, but the deal isn’t signed yet.
“We know they are in talks, but he [Commey] will get a title shot and make more money fighting me, so we got to see. And I’m willing to go to ESPN to make the fight happen just to show you that I’m the top dog,” Haney said.
Commey is Haney’s best bet for a fight, but only if he doesn’t sign to face Lomachenko. There’s a good possibility Commey will fight Lomachenko because it’s a great match for him.
Haney would do well to fight one of these fighters next:
- Rolando Romero
- Isaac ”Pitbull’ Cruz
- Lee Selby
- Yvan Mendy
Devin is still a free agent
“At the moment, I’m a free agent, so I’m willing to make the big fights happen,” Haney continued. “I haven’t been a free agent for this long for no reason.
“Everyone knows that I’m willing to deal with any promoter and get a lot of money for it. My main focus now is making the biggest fights happen and making everything make sense, so we just got to see.
“Of course, DAZN, Showtime, PBC, ESPN, it doesn’t matter. I want to make the biggest fights happen.
“Of course, they’ve got to make sense financially. I want to make these biggest fights happen. I want to entertain the fans and show the fans that I’m the top dog.
“If it makes sense financially, who knows what I may do. I can’t say that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom haven’t been good to me.
“So, of course, that’s where I’m leaning to because they have gotten me this far. I am still my own promoter.
“I can go deal with any promoter out there, so we just got to see. I’m not ruling out anything. It’s just got to make sense for me and my career and best interest,” said Haney when asked if he’d be willing to fight Richard Commey and Vasily Lomachenko on ESPN.
“I’m not ruling out anything. It may be a two-fight deal; it may be a one-fight deal. I just got to talk it over with my manager and see where we want to make our next move,” said Haney.
Being a free agent should help Haney get the fights he wants, but thus far, it hasn’t. That could be due to Haney’s lack of popularity and the technical problems he presents for most fighters.
Commey called Devin out
“He [Commey] called me out on social media, and I didn’t even see it until a couple of days later,” said Haney about Richard Commey calling him out.
“It didn’t get a lot of buzz, so I didn’t see it. But he calls me out, my dad reached out to Lou DiBella, and Lou DiBella said, ‘We got to see. We’re looking at a Lomachenko fight [for Commey]. We haven’t gotten an official offer yet, so we are looking at a Lomachenko fight.’
“So, we’ll see. We presented it too, and we haven’t received an official offer yet [for the Commey fight]. But we wanted to see if they were interested.
“They did say they might be interested. They didn’t say they were officially interested, but they might be interested. So we got to see,” said Haney.
Commey called Haney out, but almost immediately, he was lined up for a potential fight with Lomachenko. That’s probably where Commey is going to go next, which leaves Haney out in the cold.
Lomachenko fight still interests Haney
“To be honest, I didn’t even see the fight,” said Haney when asked his thoughts on Lomachenko’s last performance.
“From what I read, he looked pretty good. Masayoshi Nakatani didn’t look good at all. Of course, I want all the top dogs,” said Haney when asked if he’d like to fight Lomachenko as well.
“You name them; I want to fight them. I’ve been saying this for a long time now. It’s like me keep saying the same thing over and over again.
I’m getting tired of saying it at this point, but I’m not going to stop because I know the fans want to see these fights in reality,” Haney said.
Well, Haney will need to wait until 2022 if he wants to fight Lomachenko because he’s got Commey in December and then a rematch with Teofimo Lopez in the first quarter of 2022, according to his promoter Bob Arum.
Haney to fight in October or November
“This is going to be the second time in history,” said Haney about Joseph Diaz Jr choosing not to use his mandatory status to challenge him after he defeated Javier Fortuna in a WBC 135-lb title eliminator.
“The first one was Luke Campbell and Ryan Garcia for a mandatory position. Now Ryan Garcia is going to go back and fight and fight Jo Jo Diaz for another mandatory position to become my mandatory, and they’re still not fighting.
“It just shows you how much of a threat I am, and these guys know. They can say what they want to say.
“They can say ‘No power, no chin,’ whatever they want, but these guys aren’t in a rush to fight me. I must be doing something right.
“I’m going to be victorious,” said Haney when asked who wins in a fight between him and Jo Jo Diaz Jr. “Right now, I’m staying in the gym getting ready for whoever it may be. We just got to see.
“If I can’t get the big fights against Ryan, Teo, Tank,” Haney said in wanting to know who he should fight next if he can’t get these top fighters to face him.
“I want to get back in the ring soon as possible. I’m looking at the end of October early November,” said Haney.
Devin will have to focus on his defense more because he was badly hurt in the second half of his last fight against Jorge Linares. After getting hurt, Haney spent five of the last six rounds clinching nonstop to make it through the fight.
