Devin Haney: ‘they Said I Couldn’t Take A Punch. But I Got Up And I’m Still Here’

Rain falls successful thin, needling lines complete Hell’s Kitchen arsenic Devin Haney walks into nan Victory Boxing Gym. Somewhere on Ninth Avenue an ambulance threads done nan congestion, its siren drawn retired into a long, mournful ribbon that slips past nan gym’s walls. He nods to a fewer acquainted faces, peels disconnected a Supreme Vanson leather overgarment and originates to unwrap himself from nan city. His father, Bill, arrives a measurement down him, not truthful overmuch entering nan room arsenic taking possession of it.

“The youngest undisputed champion!” Bill cries out, half to nan gym, half to himself. “He’s done it connected 3 continents! Twenty-six years aged and still penning history! Let nan sparks fly!”

The power successful nan room seems to tilt toward nan Haney clan, arsenic it ever does. Devin keeps his caput down aft taking a spot connected nan ringing apron, winding nan gauze astir his knuckles pinch nan aforesaid slow, practiced patience he’s carried since boyhood. Bill continues barking, authorities and resentments and triumphs spilling retired successful a proud, protective crescendo. It’s a acquainted ritual for nan Haneys, begetter and boy moving successful concert. Bill has been present from nan start, a self-styled Richard Williams of nan wounded business: promoter, strategist, designer and hype man rolled into one. He has been shaping this trajectory since Devin was a boy, arranging master fights successful Tijuana erstwhile American commissions said he was excessively young. Lately, it’s a relentless leverage of societal media to breathlessly tout his son’s achievements. “Everything we built came from a plan,” he says. “We believed successful nan scheme earlier anyone other did.”

The first clip I saw Haney up adjacent he was 17 years old, recently licensed by typical exemption from nan Nevada committee aft building a 4–0 commencement successful Mexico and fighting successful a four-rounder connected nan Manny Pacquiao–Timothy Bradley III undercard earlier a oversea of quiet seats successful Las Vegas. His manus velocity was already blinding, nan eyes calm and alert, nan movements unusually assured for a teen still increasing into his limbs. Nine years later, that stillness has only hardened. He glides astir nan ringing moving nan pads pinch erstwhile world champion Mickey Bey, nan mitts cracking for illustration distant gunshots. Bey murmurs faint instructions betwixt flurries. Haney grins, plants his feet and fires again.

On Saturday nighttime successful Riyadh, Haney will move up to situation nan undefeated Brian Norman Jr for his WBO welterweight title. The conflict is still 3 weeks distant erstwhile we drawback up astatine an unfastened workout successful Manhattan. “I consciousness great: strong, sharp, happy.” A mini grin tucks into nan area of his mouth. “At 135, I was fighting nan standard much than nan feline successful beforehand of me. I’d make weight, and consciousness drained. Now I tin eat. I tin train for skills, not survival.”

Two years ago, Haney seemed connected an unstoppable rise. After defending nan WBC lightweight title 4 times, he flew to Melbourne to outpoint George Kambosos Jr and unify each 4 belts astatine 135lb. He went backmost again 7 months later to hit him much conclusively. Then came a career-defining triumph complete Vasiliy Lomachenko successful a conflict that demanded uncommon nervus and ringing intellect. After seeing disconnected Regis Prograis for a 140lb belt, Haney was 31-0, a two-weight champion and a fixture successful nan pound-for-pound conversation, each by nan property of 25.

But successful 1 night, everything changed.

The Ryan Garcia conflict was almost wholly overshadowed by Garcia’s erratic behavior some successful personification and online. Weeks of unravelling – aliases performative unravelling – unsettled everything astir nan promotion. Then Garcia weighed successful astatine 143.2lbs, a yawning 3.2lbs supra nan section limit, costing him money and nan chance to triumph Haney’s title, but giving him a clear beingness advantage. Still, nan Haneys went done pinch nan bout.

Nothing prepared nan athletics for nan nighttime itself successful April 2024, erstwhile nan Haneys’ maestro scheme was near successful tatters by boxing’s biggest chaos agent. Haney was knocked down 3 times, each from nan aforesaid near hook, and declared a majority-decision loser aft 12 shocking rounds. The consequence was later overturned to a nary title aft Garcia failed a supplier trial for ostarine, a performance-enhancing supplier that promotes musculus growth. But nan visuals of Haney getting battered to nan level many times are overmuch harder to swipe from nan nationalist consciousness, overmuch little his own.

Devin Haney, right, and Brian Norman Jr look disconnected astatine Friday’s weigh-in astatine nan Anb Arena successful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

In nan aftermath nan Haneys revenge a suit against Garcia alleging fraud and battery, which only redoubled nan ridicule from boxing’s unsparing chattering class, a title that has since been withdrawn. But moreover that, he admits, ne'er sat right. “That wasn’t me,” he says. “That was nan business side. I’m a fighter. I want to get it backmost successful blood. I ne'er wanted to do it that way. But I had group astir maine saying, ‘You mislaid millions, you’ve sewage to clasp him accountable.’ I get that. But nan truth is, I conscionable want to fight. That’s who I am.”

The rematch that mightiness person rewritten nan communicative ne'er materialized. Haney had already signed his portion of nan contract, but Garcia mislaid to Rolly Romero earlier it could beryllium finalized connected nan Saudi-backed paper that took complete Times Square. “We had a conflict signed,” he says. “He didn’t want nan rematch. But I still want it backmost successful blood. I want to correct that wrong.”

On that aforesaid card, Haney’s return against José Ramírez signaled that thing had been shaken. Haney won comfortably, but he mostly pirouetting astir nan perimeter, jabbed sparingly, flinched astatine feints and landed only 70 punches crossed 12 rounds. Surely location were mitigating factors: a 13-month layoff, nan strain of staying astatine 140lb, nan affectional debris of nan Garcia nightmare. But nan displacement was noticeable.

Haney doesn’t fuss engaging pinch nan criticism. “They’re going to opportunity thing regardless,” he says. “If you tin punch, they’ll opportunity it’s each you do. If you’ve sewage speed, they’ll opportunity it’s because you can’t punch. All I want is to support beating nan guys they put successful beforehand of me.”

Which is why Saturday nighttime successful Riyadh matters. Standing crossed from him will beryllium Norman, unbeaten astatine 28-0 pinch 22 knockouts, and nan proprietor of 1 of nan astir convulsive near hooks thrown this year: nan punch that flattened Jin Sasaki successful June and announced his arrival. A triumph would make Haney a world champion successful a 3rd division. A nonaccomplishment would correspond a acold much analyzable detour.

If Garcia embodied chaos, Norman represents danger. A younger, heavier combatant entering nan ringing pinch nan benignant of assurance Haney erstwhile carried. The conflict came together very quickly, but Haney says nan prime was deliberate. “I want to conflict nan champion disposable guys,” he says. “I went down nan list. Ryan mislaid and didn’t want it. So what amended feline than nan champion 1 correct now astatine 147?”

Haney respects Norman’s imaginable but not nan mystique. “He’s good,” he says. “But it’s difficult to opportunity really good. They put him successful pinch guys who made him look nan measurement they wanted him to look. We’ll spot what happens erstwhile he’s successful location pinch personification who tin think.”

There is relief, too, successful nan move upward. “I’m overmuch happier,” he says. “My intelligence [state] is better. I tin attraction much connected game-planning alternatively of losing weight. At 135, everything successful campy was astir nan scale. Now I yet consciousness for illustration I’m training to conflict again.”

He’s go his ain dealmaker, too, negotiating straight pinch promoters, including Turki al-Sheikh. “I’ve been negotiating my ain deals for a while,” he says. “I emotion what Riyadh Season is doing for boxing. The champion fighters are fighting nan champion fighters. Everybody’s making money. It’s a bully clip to beryllium a boxer.”

What keeps him moving forward, aft belts and disapproval and business? The reply lands softly but pinch certainty. “We group a extremity arsenic a kid,” he says. “I want my sanction to beryllium mentioned pinch nan greats erstwhile it’s each said and done. I won’t extremity until I get there.

“They said I couldn’t punch. They said I couldn’t return a punch. But I sewage up. I’m still here.”