Devin Haney silenced the critics with a prestigious victory. “The Dream” earned a fully deserved points win over the dangerous WBO welterweight world champion Brian Norman Jr, taking both his undefeated record and his belt. Now his father Bill is already looking ahead to the next challenge, and he seems to have set his sights on WBA world champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
This is the post Bill Haney published on X:
Ryan lost to Rolly on May 20. Now he’s about to face Barrios in February. Rolly hasn’t fought since May, and Devin just became champion in the same division. So why wait on Ryan again? Devin can fight Rolly now, same day, same card, unification.
True or false?
Bill’s proposed plan actually makes sense. The clear intention of Riyadh Season is to build toward a rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, a bout that would undoubtedly draw massive media attention.
The two fighters faced each other on April 20, 2024, and on that occasion Garcia won by Majority Decision, scoring three knockdowns. However, the result was later changed to a no-contest due to Garcia testing positive for ostarine in the anti-doping controls.
With the goal of heating up interest for a rematch, Haney and Garcia were placed on the same card at Times Square on May 2 of this year, matched against opponents who, according to pre-fight predictions, were not expected to pose major risks. But while Haney defeated José Ramirez as anticipated, Garcia unexpectedly lost to Rolando Romero, delivering a truly disappointing performance.
Now “King Ry” will have the chance to redeem himself when he faces WBC welterweight world champion Mario Barrios on February 21. If he wins, he and Haney could find themselves once again standing across from each other in a fascinating world unification bout.
Bill Haney, however, wants to raise the stakes even further: if his son were to take the WBA belt from Romero, the rematch with Garcia would then have three of the four major world titles at 147 pounds on the line.
All that’s left is to see whether Rolly Romero will be willing to accept the challenge.