It’s becoming standard to receive a Sunday morning phone call from Bill Haney, the father-trainer-manager of three-division champion Devin Haney. Given the entertainment value, perhaps we should refer to this staple as BoxingScene’s version of “Weekend Update.”
In this case, Haney was enthused to discuss guidance for another fighter’s father-trainer after watching Lamont Roach Jnr fight to his second consecutive draw – this one in the Saturday Premier Boxing Champions’ Prime Video pay-per-view main event versus Mexico’s Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.
“Shout to a wonderful night of fighting, to both teams, respectively,” Haney said. “Is there a chance it could be a robbery? Shhh. Let’s quiet down, let’s quiet down. This is the difference between going in there and doing what we do – ‘Do the Devin Haney, Do the Devin Haney’ – and allowing ‘Pitbull’ to do what he does.”
By throwing heavy hands with abandon and dropping Roach in the third round, Cruz did enough to overcome the fatigue and sloppiness he exhibited during the second half of the bout to retain his WBC interim 140lbs belt by scores of 115-111, 113-113, 113-113 in San Antonio.
Haney said he has many times witnessed now-former WBA super featherweight champion Roach, 25-1-3 (10KOs), box superbly, as he did to rally. He felt he did enough to insist that he won despite a second consecutive controversial outcome following his March 1 draw versus WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“No need to hang your heads – you [boxed] for the fans,” Haney said to the Roach family. “As for the [Cruz] rematch, get it on, and get it on fast.
“He can also ‘Do the Devin Haney,’ and box [Cruz’s] ears off. With ‘Pitbull’ Cruz up there, snickering and grinning, that he’s not ‘Tank’ Davis, I want Senior and Junior to be the team I know that you all are. Go back in the lab, get him in the ring immediately, and box his ears off,” Bill Haney said.
“‘Pitbull’ may sneak out the building and if he does, it’s even more reason to not fight another guy’s fight [as Roach did by frequently going toe-to-toe with Cruz]. You’re not called a warrior by doing that, and if you’re not called a warrior, then you might as well be called a fool.
“To the Roach family, the Haney family and everyone else [with boxing acumen] who’s been put in that position, when we have the athletics, the aptitude and ring IQ to box his ears off, then why wouldn’t we? Let’s stop leaving it in the judge’s hands. This is boxing, not fighting.”
Haney was intrigued to see his WBO-welterweight champion son’s targeted opponent, WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero, in attendance at San Antonio.
“We’re not looking for Rolly Romero. ‘Deebo’ is chasing the hardware around his waist,” Bill Haney said. “If Rolly Romero decides to drop the hardware and run, he won’t see ‘Deebo’ chasing him. We want what he has – a piece of history, a piece of boxing legacy that only champions and those in pursuit of being on the Mount Rushmore of boxing chase.
“Are these others belt-holders or are they champions? A belt-holder is running. Let him and his persona find a place to hide and drop it off until someone with cajones picks it up.”
Haney said Romero has been evasive after he called out the fellow Las Vegas fighter for a unification.
“We’re chasing jewelry and hardware, not people,” Haney said. “Rolly can go hide. We can go move to the next.”
Yet, WBC champion Mario Barrios is headed to a February 21 title defense versus third-time title challenger Ryan Garcia, and England’s IBF champion Lewis Crocker has some resume building to do to land a fight with former undisputed lightweight champion Haney, 33-0 (15KOs).
Haney is convinced Romero no longer has a shot to land a title defense against Manny Pacquiao, and with WBA mandatory Shakhram Giyasiv breathing down his neck, a turn to a more lucrative unification bout is likely the next best option.
“He knows he doesn’t have Pacquiao on-line. Pacquiao is waiting on [Floyd] Mayweather to have their super collision at legends’ status,” Haney said of Romero. “Rolly, you can’t hide behind nobody. You’re a duck. You’re a mouse. You said every disrespectful thing you can about Devin – his DNA, his makeup, the way he looks – but now that it’s time to fight him, you turned into a chump. Not a champ.
“You’ve got nobody who believes in your bullshit, Rolly Romero. You lose there, too. Explain why this is not the biggest and best fight to be made in boxing that isn’t already made.”
