With the biggest win of his career this weekend, Devin Haney, at a mere 24 years old, is now a free agent and a man with options. Holding a win over one of the greatest fighters of his era, Vasiliy Lomachenko, via a unanimous decision, as well as making the second title defense of his undisputed four-belt lightweight championship titles is quite an achievement. Even if some fans are cynical of the outcome.
In this article, we are going to focus on the four major players to potentially land Haney in a form of a co-promotional agreement based on the fighters they have and the attractive and lucrative options they can provide for him. These options are Premier Boxing Champions, Top Rank, and Matchroom Boxing which work with content distributor DAZN, which could make some in-house fights as well.
Haney, who has fought at lightweight for his whole career, is assumed to fight at junior welterweight in his next bout unless he can land a massive fight with a huge check attached to it to keep him at the lightweight limit of 135 lbs.
It is also important to note that we left out the IBF junior welterweight world champion Subriel Matias. We are unsure of what network and promoter he will land on; and Matias seems like a high-risk, low-reward type fighter, who might not be the first fight.
Let’s look through Haney’s options in more depth.
Top Rank
Haney had a very successful three-fight run with Top Rank Inc., that saw him become the undisputed lightweight world champion and make two defenses. Since being with Top Rank, Haney has been featured on ESPN; given Top Rank’s network deal with the network, Haney has been in front of more viewers than ever.
Haney is now one of the faces of boxing for the younger generation, and becoming the youngest undisputed lightweight world champion while traveling to Australia, not once, but twice - was no small feat.
If Haney were to re-sign with Top Rank Inc., he could have a few interesting match-ups to look at right away.
Shakur Stevenson - Stevenson wants to fight Haney. He is a two-division world champion and a 2016 Olympic silver medalist. Stevenson is one of the best of the modern era, and he is not trying to be friends with anyone in his weight class. While most are cordial - Stevenson is letting it be known, he wants to fight Haney - this was best seen when he went into the ring after Haney defeated Lomachenko. If Haney stays at lightweight and signs with Top Rank - this fight HAS TO HAPPEN!
Teofimo Lopez - A built-in feud that dates back to Las Vegas gym sparring stories from the late 2010s. Lopez was the first to beat Lomachenko and to become the lightweight undisputed title but lost it all when he was beaten by George Kambosos Jnr. Lopez and Haney have always had a public rivalry and the two personalities compliment each other well for a big marquee event. It would be very suitable for Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. So if Haney were to go with Top Rank, this would probably be on the bucket list for most fight fans.
Josh Taylor - The former junior welterweight undisputed champion, who saw injuries and inactivity lose three of the four belts he collected. Taylor will face Teofimo Lopez on June 10th to make a defense of his WBO junior welterweight title on ESPN. This comes on the heels of a shaky split-decision win over Jack Catterall. Taylor was supposed to rematch Catterall, but injuries ruined that - and now that fight is off. Taylor is an interesting option for Haney as he is a very well-accomplished fighter, with a big name in the sport.
Jose Ramirez - Haney and Ramirez have sparred in the past if memory serves correct at Wild Card in Hollywood, California. Ramirez is looking for a big-money fight, and Haney if he moves up might be interested in facing a veteran former champion in the new weight class. Being that both fighters are from Northern/Central California the card could be a homecoming for Haney in the Bay Area or Central California area as well.
Arnold Barboza Jr. - Barboza wanted a big fight and a fight with Haney would fit the bill. Barboza has done a lot, but just can’t seem to land a world title shot.
Premier Boxing Champions
Probably the most exciting option from a fan perspective might be Premier Boxing Champions, better known as the PBC, as this presents Haney with two really interesting fights; Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero. Haney started his career on Showtime’s series, ShoBox: The Next Generation, so to return to Showtime or whatever networks PBC decides to align with would also be interesting as well.
Here are the options on the PBC side of things.
Gervonta Davis - The most interesting fight given that both Davis and Haney have deep ties to Floyd Mayweather; both in their own way have been compared to Mayweather. This would be a fight that defines who is the all-time great of the two fighters. We need to find out who is the best between Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta Davis, and Devin Haney. It feels like Davis versus Haney would be a perfect fight to build into the grand finale - a Stevenson fight.
Rolando Romero - Romero holds the WBA junior welterweight title, has a great personality, and is someone who has had a lot of online chatter back and forth with Haney. This could be a very entertaining fight that could land on pay-per-view with real intrigue given how hard Romero punches and some observers fears around Haney’s ability to take a punch.
Isaac Cruz - We haven’t seen Haney fight a slew of pressure fighters and Cruz is a very good one. Given that Davis had some issues with Cruz this could be an interesting bout since it is a comparable opponent between the two.
Matchroom Boxing
Haney has had a very good relationship with Eddie Hearn, as Hearn was the first major promoter to take a chance on Devin Haney and put him in marquee main event spots. Besides that, Hearn also took Haney seriously as a promoter when it seemed other promoters might not have.
If Haney were to sign with Matchroom here are some fights he might be looking at.
Regis Prograis - One of the best of his era, a big puncher, who is a southpaw. One of the hardest fights in the division given his ability to be a good rhythm fighter with a solid jab and the toughness to make a fight ugly and walk an opponent down. This would be the biggest fight of Regis’ career, and if Haney took this fight - this would be a massive statement about what his goals are in the sport of boxing.
Jack Catterall - Many felt Catterall beat Josh Taylor. If Haney were to fight Catterall this would be a very tough and capable fighter, who is flying under the radar and is worthy of a world title shot. This might open the doors for Haney to fight in the U.K. as well.
Richardson Hitchins - A good boxer with solid power, who is already calling out Devin Haney. If Hitchins continues to win and Haney signs with Matchroom Boxing, this is a fight that would be made at some point.
Given the relationship Matchroom Boxing has with DAZN, who also broadcast Golden Boy Promotions bouts it would not be unreasonable to add Ryan Garcia and William Zepeda to the mix as well.
Ryan Garcia is big business and a fight with Devin Haney would do big numbers. This would be a bout that would get the internet going nuts as both fighters have huge fanbases online as much as they do in reality, or possibly bigger. It feels like a matter of when, rather than if, these two fight.
William Zepeda is the classic high-risk, low-reward fight, but if Zepeda wins a few big fights; Haney found himself in the DAZN universe for a period of time. It would not be unrealistic to see a fight made with Zepeda in late 2024 or early 2025, as a bout sooner than that might be a bit optimistic as Zepeda has to really build up some anticipation for that bout, as hardcore fight fans are very bullish on Zepeda, but most fight fans might be unaware of the southpaws with enormous volume and a strong body attack.
