Devin Haney (33-0, 15 KO) says yes “accepting all comers” will fight his next fight after winning the WBO welterweight title by defeating champion Brian Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KO) on Saturday evening at Ring IV at the ANB Arena in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. Haney won by unanimous decision over 12 rounds, scores of 114-113, 116-111 and 117-110.
(Source: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)
Protecting Ryan Garcia’s paycheck
When Haney was asked after the fight if he was interested in fighting Conor Benn again, he replied: “Throw it away.” To keep Haney interested in fighting, Benn suggests he wants to make sure he doesn’t lose before his lucrative rematch with Ryan Garcia. That’s a intelligent decision because he could have a lot of trouble against a hitter like Benn.
The tactics Devin used tonight to beat Norman Jr. and used it often, it probably wouldn’t have been effective against Benn. He is intelligent and would find a way to deal with this strategy. His father, Nigel Benn, came up with a tactic to counter grabbing throughout the night in every round, just as Haney used as his primary strategy to defeat Norman Jr.
“I wanted to face the best fighter so I could be that guy in the division,” Haney said Second exit after his victory over Brian Norman Jr. on Saturday evening. “A lot of people doubted me and wrote me off. But I used it as fuel and motivation. They made me believe how risky he was. So I believed them.”
Norman Jr. Neutralized, literally
“My dad had a great game plan and I executed it and it showed in the ring. I knew he had a weakness for the left hook. I saw him get hurt by a left hook.”
Bill Haney said Devin would do it “neutralize” Norman Jr. Attack before the fight and he wasn’t kidding. Devin resembled a Greco-Roman wrestler tonight, grabbing and tugging at Norman Jr. whenever he got near. Not only did he neutralize Norman Jr.’s attack, but he did a good job of stopping his own, landing just 70 punches out of 271 thrown throughout the fight.
“Everyone is willing” – with conditions
“We accept all comers. It doesn’t matter who it is. Whoever my dad says he wants me to fight, that’s who I’m going to fight,” Haney said DAZN Boxing when asked who he wants to fight next after his victory over Norman Jr.
Apart from Norman Jr. only Ryan Garcia, who Devin says he wants to fight since moving up to 147 pounds. The division is restricted in terms of potential cash fight opponents for Devin unless Turki Alalshikh is willing to offer him substantial money to fight the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Rolando “Rolly” Romero and Jack Catterall.
Bob Smith wrote for Boxing News 24 since 2008, making him one of the site’s longest-serving contributors. With over a decade of experience, he has established himself as a senior boxing writer who accurately covers the global fight scene.
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Tim Tszyu seeks to become Australia’s third multi-divisional boxing world champion when he competes for Erislandy Lara’s WBA middleweight title next month, and ahead of the action, trainer Robert Garcia has offered his thoughts on the fight.
Tszyu lost his WBO super-welterweight title in a defeat to Sebastian Fundora back in 2024 and twice failed to reclaim 154lb honours, both against Bakhram Murtazaliev and in a rematch with Fundora.
Since then, the Aussie has stepped up to middleweight and scored a career-best win over Errol Spence Jr earlier this yearand now, the 32-year-old could join lead trainer Jeff Fenech and Liam Paro as his nation’s third two-weight world champion, if he can trump 43-year-old.
Speaking with ProBox TVRobert Garcia, who trains a potential future Tszyu opponent in Vergil Ortiz, admitted that he is leaning towards the home fighter, but noted that Lara will not be phased by competing in the challenger’s backyard.
“We can probably lean towards Tim Tsyzu because he is fighting at home, in front of his hometown, but Lara is not the fighter that brings in a lot of fans following him.
“He doesn’t have a following, he is not one that is going to sell out arenas, so even if it is in the United States, it is likely that most of the people are going to be [there] for Tim Tszyu because Australians do travel and Tim Tszyu has a lot of fans.
“For Lara, going to Australia is like going to Las Vegas or going to New York because he never has that following anyways. Anywhere he goes, he is going to be against the crowd. So, I think for him it is going to be one of those performances where it doesn’t make a difference if he is going to Tim Tsyzu’s hometown.”
Tszyu-Lara takes place at the Cbus Super Stadium in Queensland, Australia on Sunday 13 December.
Deontay Wilder’s former head coach Malik Scott has delivered a knockout prediction for the American’s upcoming showdown with Jai Opetaia.
The pair will square off at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with Opetaia making his heavyweight debut on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.
Despite him being the naturally smaller man, many are favouring the Australian – a former two-time world cruiserweight champion – to defeat his 10-years-older opponent.
It is, after all, generally accepted that Wilder has declined significantly since his trilogy bout with Furywho survived two knockdowns and scored an 11th-round knockout in their 2021 encounter.
Back then, Wilder had just joined forces with Scott, his former opponent, and the pair maintained their fighter-trainer relationship through subsequent defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
With Wilder now operating under different coaches, though, Scott has shared a balanced view of the Opetaia fight with Seconds Out.
“The fight’s got dynamite written all over it. Jai Opetaia is very dangerous, but he’s a smaller man that’s been hurt by smaller men than Deontay, slower men than Deontay.
“I’ve never seen Opetaia get hit by nobody like Deontay; I’ve seen Deontay get hit by bigger punchers than Opetaia. [But] one thing we can expect in this fight is a knockout.
“The name of the fight is ‘bad intentions’ – at least that’s what I’m calling it, because that’s what they share in common. What they share in common is mentality – they both are trying to hurt you.”
While he stopped short of predicting a winner, it is perhaps telling that Scott, despite his relationship with Wilder, has not explicitly favoured him to win by knockout.
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