Declaring that his newly crowned three-division-champion son is poised for a run to join the sport’s “Mount Rushmore,” father-trainer-manager Bill Haney is targeting WBA welterweight titleholder Rolly Romero as new WBO titlist Devin Haney’s next opponent.
And in a Tuesday night blitzkrieg of a conversation with BoxingScene, Haney left none of the division’s prominent players unscathed.
“We were there when there were ‘sides of the streets’ and politics that kept guys from reaching the legacy they deserved since fighting as young kids,” Bill Haney said in appreciation of the “Night of Champions” card on which Devin Haney shined in Saudi Arabia, defeating formerly unbeaten belt holder Brian Norman Jnr.
“But now, being the best to ever lace up gloves and reach this Mount Rushmore is in our sights, and the next guy up to keep that trajectory and keep us right in step with our goals and vision is none other than Rolando Romero.
“But I’m not sure if Rolando Romero is a comedian in a boxer’s outfit or a fighter with an equalizer in his gloves. He’s talked and talked and talked until the talking is over, and now [Devin] is looking for some new hardware to take.”
Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), thwarted plans for a Haney rematch with Ryan Garcia – who tested positive for PEDs following his no-contest event with Haney, 33-0 (15 KOs), in April 2024 – by defeating Garcia by unanimous decision in May to capture the WBA belt.
Although Romero has been in talks for a showdown with Manny Pacquiao, that bout is now in the limbo of further negotiations, and Bill Haney claims Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh could stage a Haney-Romero bout as soon as late February.
“Haney isn’t the biggest fight, and everyone knows that,” Romero told BoxingScene by text message Tuesday.
Told that, Bill Haney said, “We don’t need to talk anybody into a fight. When Turki Alalkshikh is involved, the right things happen. The best fights happen. The only reason this fight wouldn’t happen is if Rolly Romero is scared to death.”
Both the Haneys and Romero families hail from Las Vegas.
“His dad is a real stand-up guy from Cuba. But did he raise a mouse?” Bill Haney asked. “We’re ready to come back by [late] February if Rolly Romero is ready to get this money.
“And if Rolly doesn’t believe this is the biggest fight for him in boxing, that proves he’s the biggest chicken in boxing.”
That brought the charismatic cornerman Haney to turn the conversation by saying, ”And speaking of mice… ,” aiming attention at England’s Conor Benn, who, coming off his middleweight victory over Chris Eubank Jnr this month, has called out Devin Haney.
“All respect to Nigel Benn and his accomplishments, but would he please keep his wankster son out of America with nothing accomplished but being daddy’s little boy?” Bill Haney said. “And I know that Nigel and all the UK brothers felt some kind of way with the wankster, Conor Benn, resting his head [in victory] on [promoter] Eddie Hearn’s shoulders like he was a female. That had to be disappointing … but I don’t know what you’re going through.”
With that, Bill Haney let out a hearty laugh.
“Conor, you’ve never faced a top-10 fighter. You’ve never faced an ex-champ or the champ,” he said. “Keep Devin’s name out of your mouth until you’ve accomplished something in the sport.
“Shout out to the Benns and Eubanks for a historic event that didn’t mean anything. They’re the kings of the playground, but now let us get back to original programming and big-boy business.”
Bill Haney suggested Benn fight 154lbs contenders Jaron “Boots” Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jnr or middleweight titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly or Garcia if he defeats Mario Barrios on February 21 for the WBC welterweight belt.
“Why don’t they [Benn and Garcia] get together and they can have a PED-off, or a PED-on,” Haney joked about Benn’s prior involvement in a drug-testing scandal. “I want to see those guys mix it up – and I mean, literally, mix it up. You know what I mean?
“Do something.”
Bill Haney said his son has accomplished more by winning three division titles in just over 27 years than the Benns have “in two lifetimes.
“Right now, we have Rolly Romero in our sights – the guy who beat Ryan Garcia,” Haney said. “We’ll get to those two wanksters [Benn and Garcia] at a later date.”
Bill Haney said despite some indication by Hearn that Alalshikh wasn’t pleased with Devin Haney’s performance, he said, “Hearn doesn’t speak for Turki. Matchroom is struggling to make fights. They’re biggest fight right now is [former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua] against the champion of the YouTube world [Jake Paul].”
As the conversation with BoxingScene was ending, Bill Haney asked, “You’ve got all this fire?”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
