Devin Haney posted a training photo of himself on Instagram, and he’s looking massively prepared for his comeback. The former two-division world champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) looks like he’s easily in the mid-160 lb range and showing no fat. This is solid muscle.
If Haney wants to campaign at 154, he could easily do it. He’s got the size, if not the power or chin, to fight at junior middleweight. I shudder to think what IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev would do to Haney if he landed one of his solid left hooks.
Haney is coming off a 12-round majority decision loss to Ryan Garcia on April 20th. He and his dad, Bill Haney, want a rematch with Ryan, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen until either late 2025 or 2026, if at all.
Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya said Ryan will be taking a tuneup fight when his suspension ends in April 2025, and he ruled out a Haney rematch happening then. It’s unclear what De La Hoya’s thoughts are on a rematch. The way he was talking last week, he didn’t sound interested in that fight happening again. Of course, when there’s money involved, that can help get over feelings of bitterness.
If Haney is going to move up to 147 for his return, he’ll have to drain a lot of water weight off to make the limit because he’s way too big to compete in that division without dehydrating himself to make it. However, Haney is no stranger to doing that because been melting down for years to fight at 135 and 140 and then ballooning up.
“It’s over with guaranteed 2000%. The crazy thing is, I don’t got no worries about it at all,” said coach Mickey Bey to YSM Sports Media about a potential rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney in 2025.
I don’t know how serious coach Bey is about his belief that Haney would beat Ryan Garcia, because the way he was mopped up by him last April, he’s not going to beat him. Ryan is too powerful for him and has the perfect style to beat his clinching approach.
“Ryan can fight. So, I’m not going to discredit what he can do. Ryan is a good, fast, explosive fighter, but I know the real Devin Haney and the skills that he possesses, fighting the way he needs to fight to win, I wouldn’t have no problem fighting a rematch fairly soon,” said Bey.
Haney needs to listen to promoter Eddie Hearn’s advice about taking a tuneup before looking to face someone good. If Haney jumps straight into a rematch with Ryan or another big puncher, he will get knocked out. Looking at the replay of the seventh round, I see that Ryan should have knocked out Haney in that round. Haney was dropped four times in that round, but the referee only counted one.
“Of course, we take it seriously. We would never underestimate somebody, but I know 100% Devin will win the rematch. I’m not even worried about taking that rematch one bit. I know for a fact that we’ll win the rematch,” said Bey about his belief Haney will defeat Ryan Garcia in a second fight.
It’s understandable why Haney would want a rematch with Ryan because it’s the biggest payday available to him. Moreover, if Haney wins, his career will be back on track. It might be just a temporary thing, though, because Haney would still need to be able to beat the top fighters at whatever weight class he fights at.
