Devin Haney’s dad, Bill, is already planning his son’s next fight after Ryan Garcia. He aims for a unification clash against light welterweight champions Teofimo Lopez or Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.
Bill prefers a fight for Devin (31-0, 15 KOs) against Teofimo, the WBO 140-lb champion, who is coming off a controversial decision against Jamaine Ortiz last February.
That’s the bigger money fight for WBC champion Haney, but it’ll be more difficult to put together due to the promotional and network obstacles.
Teofimo (20-1, 13 KOs) already has a fight planned against Steve Claggett on June 29th, meaning he won’t be available for a unification match against Haney until later this year.
Taking Shots at Isaac Cruz
“You said we was fighting tomato cans. We came out of TJ [Tijuana] all the way to the top, undisputed, and millions,” said Bill Haney to Fighthype, bragging about his son, Devin, having captured world titles in two weight classes.
“Pitbull [Cruz], you going to get it. As soon as we handle this business with Ryan Garcia, I want to see if you talking all that fat-mouthing.”
A unification fight against Pitbull Cruz, who is coming off an eighth-round knockout win over Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, would attract a lot of interest, and it would be a pay-per-view-worthy fight for Haney.
Haney is a free agent, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the fight to be put together if both fighters want it. Pitbull (26-2-1, 18 KOs) said he’d be interested in fighting Teofimo as well, and he’d like to fight Ryan Garcia, too. He can probably make more money fighting those guys than Haney, who still isn’t a PPV draw at this point in his career.
Teofimo Grudge Match Teased
“I ain’t going to disrespect Teofimo Lopez Sr. because I know you got a belt [WBO 140-lb title], and we got a belt,” said Bill.
“So, I wouldn’t put nobody in front of the Lopezs because that’s the ultimate grudge match. Pitbull Cruz, keep talking. You speeding up that list. If you really want to get it, Devin Haney is the man to go through,” said Bill.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum is the one who decides on Teofimo’s opponents, and he may choose to ignore Haney if he fights in a safety-first method against Ryan Garcia as he did in his clash against Regis Prograis.
