Fresh off becoming a two-weight division champion last Saturday on December 9th, Devin Haney addressed the potential of him fighting Gervonta Davis and did not shy away from stating that Davis was not interested. Devin Haney and his father/trainer, Bill Haney, further elaborated on this point, emphasizing how Haney defines his career by challenging himself, in contrast to Davis, whom they accuse of engaging in “insignificant fights” to deceive the public.
The subject of Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) and Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) meeting in the ring was raised by a reporter during the post-match conference following the conclusion of the Prograis-Haney event. Haney responded to the question by immediately questioning Davis’ intentions, citing several examples to clarify his stance on his fellow American.
“Tank [Gervonta Davis] doesn’t want to fight. If he really wanted to fight, then he would be trying to build up the fight [between Haney and Prograis] instead of trying to knock it down or try to say I’m only selling because of this or that,” Haney said at the post-match presser.
“If he really wanted to fight me, he would be making it that this is a big fight, that it’s the best fight in boxing, but he only talks down on the fight. But like I said many times, they say everything but ‘let’s fight’.“
Bill Haney supported Devin Haney’s point by explaining how downing other fighters, as Davis is alleged to be doing, only diminishes the chances of an actual fight occurring.
“You don’t have to down a fighter to validate what you are and what you bring to the table,” Bill Haney said. “Tank and his team have consistently lied to the people. They created this narrative that because you make money or charge the people some astronomical money for a fight that you know that the guy is gonna lose because the betting line doesn’t even reflect as much money as the guy is charging.
“So a message to all the fans. Stop letting Tank and his team piss on your head and call it rain with these insignificant fights. They’re saying this is for the culture. Devin represents the culture and represents what boxing should be and what boxing is.“
While Gervonta Davis is known as one of the biggest stars in American boxing, if not the biggest, the Haneys did not misrepresent facts when they focused on the potential overpricing of fights Davis is involved in as Davis has yet to win a legitimate title in the lightweight division, whereas Devin Haney has become undisputed and defeated renowned future Hall of Famer Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KO’s).
In comparison, Gervonta Davis has not fought a legitimate world champion since facing Jesus Cuellar in April of 2018, discounting his ‘title fights’ with Mario Barrios (28-2, 18 KO’s) and Yuriorkis Gamboa, where he won the WBA ‘regular’ super lightweight and lightweight titles, respectively. WBA ‘regular’ titles are considered secondary titles, lesser than the WBA ‘super’ titles, and should not be viewed as legitimate world titles. The holder of the WBA ‘super’ title at the time of Davis’ victory over Gamboa was Vasyl Lomachenko, who would go on to remain the WBA ‘super’ champion for over a year before losing to Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KO’s) in October of 2020.
The nature of Davis’ fights can also be considered overpriced, given that the opponents he has faced are not actual world champions or necessarily top contenders in his division. Additionally, most of his opponents are subjected to rehydration clauses, as seen with Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s), another popular American fighter who had to move down from 140 lbs and never won a legitimate world title in his entire career.
While the fight between Davis and Garcia was significant due to two highly-regarded young American fighters facing each other, the earnings of both fighters do not reflect the fight’s impact on the lightweight division. Davis did not go on to fight for a world title afterward and has yet to fight since the match occurred in April of this year. In essence, the match did not significantly contribute to the competitiveness of the lightweight division, considered one of the most stacked weight classes based on talent.
Haney arguably contributed to the competitiveness of the division by defending all his world titles against top-rated contender Vasyl Lomachenko, setting the standard for the “best fighting the best,” in contrast to Davis, who chose to face Garcia, a super lightweight contender who had not been one of the top contenders at 140 lbs before moving down to lightweight to face Davis.
