Devin Haney: “He Always Find An Excuse…I Never Make An Excuse”
Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) seems to be a fighter without a dance partner. The WBC world lightweight champ is in search of a big fight at 135 pounds. So far, the 23-year-old is coming up snake-eyes. A possible high-profile match could be a unification showdown against unified IBF/WBA ‘super’/WBO champ Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs).
Haney is in Las Vegas to attend the October 9 trilogy between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. Making the rounds with the boxing media, he spoke to FightHypeabout a possible fight with Lopez.
THE BLAME GAME
According to the unified world lightweight champ, Haney is the one holding up a possible match. The unified world lightweight champ said a meeting was scheduled between his promoter, Bob Arum, and Haney’s father/manager, Bill Haney, in hopes of making a match. When asked about Lopez’s claims, Haney refutes that story.
“Y’all don’t believe Teo, do y’all? I would hope not. He says one thing today, another thing tomorrow. I’m done wasting my energy on him. At the end of the day, he can say what he wants to say.
He never says that he’s going to fight or he’s trying to make a fight happen. All of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, ‘oh, there was a meeting, and he missed the meeting’. Just randomly, out of nowhere, he says that… the proof is in the pudding.”
For years, the two men traded verbal shots towards each other on social media. Unfortunately, their war of words has not resulted in both men putting pen to paper on a contract. Keep in mind that Haney is a free agent and not currently tied to any promoter or network. One would think it would make it easier to negotiate a fight.
RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING
Haney is correct to point out that his rival is guilty of talking out of both sides of his mouth. One moment Lopez says he wants to fight Haney; the next moment he will claim Haney has not accomplished anything and is not worthy of his time.
Fans are left scratching their heads, asking who is truly at fault? At this point, they just want the squabbling to cease. Either get in the ring or not.
Teofimo Lopez is next scheduled to fight IBF lightweight mandatory challenger George Kambosos on October 16. Should he win, could we finally Lopez-Haney take place in 2022? Haney has serious doubts.
“You see, he always finds an excuse. He always finds a way to duck and dodge and says this and say that; finds a way out and why he shouldn’t be fighting me…I never make an excuse, there’s nothing I can say…The only thing I said is he’s fighting Kambosos, I’m free.”
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
