Devin Haney appears to be happy with the recent suspension imposed on Ryan Garcia by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) that will purportedly keep Ryan Garcia out of the ring until April 20th of next year, and see Haney’s loss to Garcia reverted as their April 20th match has been ruled a no-contest. The circumstances surrounding his loss and Garcia’s positive drug tests seem to have driven Haney to take a similar lengthy―albeit a voluntary―hiatus from the sport as Garcia.
While Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) provided no exact reason for his planned hiatus, a medical suspension by the NYSAC may be related to his decision; indicating that recovery is one of his motivators to step away from the sport.
“I’ll be back n one year,” Haney posted on Twitter/X yesterday, “I had all the belts already. From now on I’m fighting at whatever weight I choose. No longer fighting in weight classes“
Haney’s last sentence appears to have been unfinished but might have been alluding to potential struggles he had to make weight for his last fight. This would explain the reports from last year where he had reportedly rehydrated upwards to 25 lbs by the time he met Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s) in the ring on December 9th., and coincides with Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn’s claims in 2023 of Haney potentially moving up to welterweight (147 lbs).
A recuperation period will likely be paramount for Haney after his now-overturned April 20th match against Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) resulted in the World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight (140lbs) champion suffering an untold amount of damage; including several debilitating knockdowns.
Due to Haney’s announcement, it is likely he will vacate his WBC title in the near future and thereby force the sanctioning body to attempt to find another opponent for Spanish WBC mandatory challenger, Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KO’s) to face―making it likely that Martin’s next fight could be for a world title.
It remains to be seen whether that means the WBC will promote current WBC interim 140 lbs champion Alberto Puello (23-0, 10 KO’s)―who won the interim title last weekend―and mandate a match between him and Martin.
Devin Haney also appeared to contradict himself after claiming he was happy with the no-contest result of his bout against Garcia as dictated by the NYSAC.
“No, BS tho, I’m happy it wasn’t a DQ because I wouldn’t wanna win like that,” Haney said, “Once this suspension is over, Ryan Garcia, let’s run it back. CLEAN on an even playing field.. Biggest fight n boxing.“
Peculiarly, Haney had actually petitioned the NYSAC to turn the April 20th result into a disqualification victory only to now claim he preferred not to win in that manner.
