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Bill Haney Calls Devin ‘The Face of Boxing’ and Sues Ryan Garcia

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Image: Bill Haney Calls Devin "Face Of Boxing," Suing Ryan Garcia

Devin Haney’s dad, Bill Haney, claims his son is the “face of boxing” and they are going after Ryan Garcia for using PEDs during their fight scheduled for April 20 “for the good of the sport.”

It’s unclear whose idea it was for Haney to sue Ryan, but the move will likely backfire and provide no significant benefit. If this was done with the intention of getting more money on top of a revenge match, it may not work. If Ryan becomes bitter about being sued, will he throw Haney a bone by giving him a rematch? I don’t see it.

For all intents and purposes, the lawsuit is Haney’s revenge because he could have shot himself in the foot by choosing the legal route. I see it as an either/or situation. Either retaliate or file a lawsuit, but you can’t have both. This is short-sighted.

If the money Haney receives for his lawsuit is more than he would receive in a rematch, maybe it will be worth it to him, but maybe not. I wonder how much Haney wants to get for the lawsuit. 10 million dollars? This doesn’t seem well thought out.

However, the popularity of the fan reaction to Haney’s lawsuit makes this a waste of time because this is more significant.

Bill Haney’s comments in his Boxingscene interview about Devin being the “face of boxing” are demanding to swallow. To cast this type of talent, you have to entertain and produce results, and his fighting style is not fan-friendly.

Essentially, Haney is a Shakur-style finesse and lithe punch fighter who jabs, holds and moves. There are plenty of these types of fighters in the sport, especially when, like him, they are often in clinches.

On Friday, Haney filed a lawsuit against Ryan Garcia for alleged battery, fraud and unjust enrichment in connection with their April fight, a move that could do much more damage to his popularity than the loss to Ryan.

Devin’s loss to Ryan, his questionable victory over Vasily Lomachenko and his fight against Jorge Linares showed that he is not even close to being a top contender. He is seen as the fighter who defeated George Kambosos Jr, a frail three-belt champion, and the faded 35-year-old Regis Prograis.

Haney is not seen as the face of the sport after his performance against Ryan, when he was beaten and seemingly saved by the referee in round seven. Devin had his 15 minutes of fame as a short-lived champion at 135 and 140, but that moment has passed.

When he returns to the ring, he will likely move up to 147 pounds because he has become too massive for the 140-pound division. It’s going to be tough for Haney in the welterweight division because everyone punches demanding and will be going after a fighter who doesn’t punch and has a history of injuries.

The welterweight sharks will be waiting for Haney when he moves up, and that could be bad for him. That’s why it’s confusing that by filing a lawsuit, he’s spoiling this mega-payment he could have gotten in a rematch with Ryan. This doesn’t make sense.

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Sandy Ryan Mikaela Mayer Bitter Feud Explained Before Title Fight

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A heated back-and-forth before a fight is every promoter’s dream, especially if the fighters have a history, someone has something to prove, or there’s a belt on the line. With Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer, all of this is happening.

Mayer has made no secret of the fact that her feud with WBO welterweight champion Ryan is deeply personal. It’s about the coaching staff, a bitter war of words, and on September 27 at Madison Square Garden, the gigantic fight for Ryan’s belt (Live on ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET.).

Ryan (7-1-1 3 KO) began working full-time under the tutelage of “Coach Kay” (Kay Koroma) and Flick Savoy following her fight with Jessica McCaskill in September 2023. Mayer (19-2 5 KO), who trained with Koroma felt betrayed for almost a decade.

According to Mayer, she wanted to move up from lightweight, both were on track to fight, and Ryan’s appearance in that fight was unacceptable. The city wasn’t gigantic enough for the two of them.

Mayer left trainer Kaya to train under Kofi Jantuah following her loss to IBF welterweight champion Natasha Jonas in January. The fight with Ryan was announced in August. Since then, there has been tension between them, to say the least.

“I have a fight with Jonas and [told] Coach Kay: “Sandy can’t come back here anymore…” [jokingly] and I thought he would totally agree with that,” Mayer told ESPN.

“He tells me I’m on my way to Jonas’ fight [he’s] bringing Sandy. I kind of turned on him and thought, “Why would you invite my competition?”

“He says, ‘No, [I’ll] give it to her [Savoy].’ There was no transparency. I called Sandy and she admitted that Kay trained her. I told him, “I don’t like it.” Nobody was forthright with me.”

The consequences were made public and Mayer had no problem contacting Ryan, who she said was “sneaky.”

“I think he is a weak-minded person and I have heard certain things in the past: [that] no one even likes her in the UK… That’s why she had to come to my country with my coaches,” Mayer said.

For her part, Ryan says she doesn’t care and has reached out to Mayer to squash any beef. It didn’t go very well.

“I have known Kay for years, dating back to my amateur days when I was on Team GB,” Ryan told ESPN. “I had a change in the team and Kay was there to support me and said, ‘I can give you the team and Flick can be your coach here.’ [America]’ and that’s how it went. I reached out because people were telling me at the gym that Mikaela Mayer wasn’t content.

“Who does she think she is? She thinks the world owes her everything, but it doesn’t.

“Since then, and since I was training in America, she has been calling me names. She was just pissed. So now we are here and we have to silence her.”

The two will meet in Modern York and settle their dispute in the ring. Ryan wants to retain the belt, while Mayer wants to recover from his loss to Jonas. It has all the makings of an explosive competition.

“I expect Sandy to keep pushing forward,” Mayer said. I know she just wants to knock me out. She will try to sit on her punches and knock me out, and that will be her downfall. I will box, move and pick it like I have always done, even in my amateur days.”

Ryan also expects a tough matchup.

“I expect Mikaela Mayer to be good because she is a good player and you can’t take away from her what she has achieved in this sport. You can’t expect anything less, otherwise you’d miss your opponent, and I don’t do that,” Ryan said. “That’s why I respect her for what she has achieved in this sport [but] I don’t respect her as a human being.”

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Shane McGuigan: Gilberto Ramirez challenges as tough as Jai Opetaia

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COACH Shane McGuigan believes the challenge facing Gilberto Ramirez at cruiserweight is comparable to that of Jai Opetai.

Ramirez puts his WBA world title on the line against McGuigan’s WBO world champion, Chris Billam-Smith, in a cruiserweight unification on November 16 in Riyad.

Opetaia is considered by many to be the number one cruiserweight in the world and the IBF belt holder had hoped to face Billam-Smith later this year, but instead he will defend his title against former European champion Jack Massey on October 12.

Ramirez vs. Billam-Smith tops the five-fight card for Riyadh Season/Golden Boy Promotions, which also features Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr and William Zepeda vs. Tevin Farmer.

“I think it will be a tough fight. It can’t be like this,” McGuigan said of the main event.

“You’ve got a Mexican in Ramirez who, yes, he’s a bit of a counter-puncher, but he still throws a lot of punches. He’s tough, he was just defeated [Arsen] Goulamirian and was arguably one of the best in the division.

“He [Goulamirian] he was the type of fighter who was feared, and he just beat him and overtook him and sided with him. It’s a tough question, but I think Ramirez’s move up to cruiserweight really suited him because he has a naturally mighty chin, a lot of punching power and is very, very effective. So we need to stay up to date, as always.

“I think it’s as challenging a fight for Chris Billam-Smith as it is for Jai Opetai.”

For the third time in four fights, Billam-Smith finds himself on the losing end despite mocking the tag of Lawrence Okolie and Richard Riakporhe respectively. The 34-year-old defeated Okolie to win the WBO belt in May 2023 and has since defended it against Mateusz Masternak and in a rematch with Riakporhe in June at Selhurst Park.


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Rhiannon Dixon isn’t taking her belt for granted ahead of her defense against Terri Harper

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Rhiannon Dixon speaks at the final press conference before her WBO lightweight title fight with Terri Harper – photo: Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing

When Rhiannon Dixon first won the WBO lightweight belt, she wasn’t too concerned about it.

“I didn’t celebrate much when I won the title because I thought I was rubbish! I actually walked out of the ring and thought, ‘That was so embarrassing,'” said Dixon (10-0, 1 knockout), who will defend her belt against Terri Harper this Saturday at the Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield.

Over time, the 29-year-old title-winner has realized how significant her achievement is, even though she still feels like she has to work for it in every performance.

“I feel like I have something to prove now. I feel like I haven’t shown even half of what I can do.

Dixon, currently ranked No. 3 in The Ring’s lightweight rankings, will have to show the other half of her hidden talents and then some of her talents in a fight with the threatening Harper, a former champion who will be Dixon’s biggest challenge yet.

“It’s definitely my toughest fight – I have no illusions about that – but it’s a fight I’ve been preparing for for a long time and I’m very excited. When I win on the weekend, it gets me into substantial fights, which makes me very excited.”

Harper (14-2-2, 6 KO) believes that she should be the favorite in this fight, but Dixon disagrees.

“I believe he says things with peace and love that he doesn’t really believe. So when she said she was going to stop me, I laughed because I thought, “that’s not going to happen, is it?”

One reason Harper may have thought Dixon wasn’t a good fit for the spot was probably Dixon’s lack of experience. After all, this will be the southpaw champion’s first defense of the belt she won against Karen Carabajal in a vacant title fight that was Dixon’s 10th career fight. However, she claims that she has already put this uncertainty behind her.

“It boosted my confidence a lot,” Dixon said of her belts. “When I first got on the DAZN cards, I had a bit of imposter syndrome because I had only done seven mental battles. Going from Commonwealth Champion to European Champion to World Champion has boosted my confidence. I fit into this stage.

“I’m excited to show off everything I’ve learned since then. I still can’t believe it when they call me world champion. I really can’t believe it. I feel this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

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