Devin and Bill Haney have already started discussing the possibility of renewing his promotional agreement with Top Rank.
The undisputed lightweight champion, on Saturday at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, fights the great Vasyl Lomachenko in what represents the biggest test of his career so far.
Saturday’s fight also represents the last of his existing agreement with the influential promoters. He joined them to challenge George Kambosos Jr for the undisputed title and, in the event of a convincing victory over the 35-year-old Lomachenko, will become the most valuable free agent in the world.
It is therefore almost certain that rival promoters will attempt to recruit the talented 24-year-old – he is the champion of what in 2023 is the world’s most exciting weight division – but instead of resisting talking about the subject of Haney’s future he and his father, trainer and manager Bill have deliberately raised it, suggesting that it is with Top Rank that they hope to remain.
“I see a lot of people talking about me being a free agent after this,” Devin Haney said. “You know – this and that. But Top Rank has done a tremendous job with this event – Bob [Arum] and the whole team – and I’m happy with what they’ve done with me so far.
“They’ve got a lot of good fighters – good future opponents – at Top Rank, so I’m excited to see what’s next. I like being with ESPN; I like working with Bob and Top Rank, and this is my home.
“We’ve got to see [what comes next]. I like what Top Rank has done with the promotion. Everything they have done, there’s been a big buzz around it, and I’m happy with it. Once I’m victorious I can tell you more about it, but I’m pleased with the way Top Rank has been handling things.”
The Haneys had previously also worked with the ambitious Matchroom, and therefore DAZN, but Matchroom have recently invested in the exciting Cuban lightweight Andy Cruz, and Bill Haney said: “I met with Bob and on several occasions I told him, ‘Devin is a hot knife and Top Rank is butter’. We believed when we came over that it wasn’t about preparing for any kind of fights – development fights – Devin wanted to be in the biggest and best fights that Top Rank and the world could offer.
“We had the two fights with Kambosos and we sat down to talk about what that third fight looked like; we wanted the best fight. We wanted them to put on whoever they felt their best fighter was. We weren’t trying to ‘win’ – to take an easy touch and run out the door.
“Devin is the quintessential businessman – we wanted, more than anything, to know that we’d never stiffed any of our business partners. Every deal we’ve entered into we’ve fulfilled the contract. It was very important to us that this third fight be a fight that Bob wanted and the Top Rank team wanted, and if there was something else that was on the table, we were open to talking about it, but right now the focus is on Lomachenko and the rest will work itself out.”
Haney’s promotional future could yet be determined by whether he remains at 135lbs or moves up to 140lbs. At lightweight there exists the potential super fight with fellow Top Rank fighter Shakur Stevenson. Bob Arum, who on Thursday confirmed the signing of Kambosos Jr, could yet even seek to match him with the winner of next month’s WBO super lightweight fight between the champion Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez.
“It depends on what anybody has to offer him, and if it makes sense for us,” the promoter had told ProBox TV. “If Haney wins or loses he’s going to go up to 140lbs, and we have the winner of Josh Taylor-Teofimo [Lopez], so I think that’s somewhat attractive to him. We’ll see what we see.
“If we have a good fight to offer him next, we’ll offer him the fight, and if his people like what we’re offering them he’ll sign with us. If not, he’ll sign with another promoter.
“The idea that you have to sign guys long term is not the way it used to be, and it shouldn’t be now, so we wouldn’t look to sign Devin to a long-term contract.”
