Promoter Eddie Hearn mentioned in an interview that Devin Haney’s potential fight against IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro on December 7th could be a unification match.
Champion in Recess: A Real Title?
Hearn believes that because Haney is the WBC ‘Champion in Recess’ at 140, his fight with Paro would be a unification, even though Devin wouldn’t hold the full belt.
More importantly, the fight being a unification means Haney would be exempt from the IBF’s 10-lb rehydration rule. This would allow him to rehydrate fully overnight after the Friday weigh-in and potentially come in in the 160s, which would be well above the 10-lb IBF limits.
Bypassing the Rehydration Rule
This would allow Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) to bypass the IBF’s 10-lb rehydration rule. That rule would make it virtually impossible for Haney to fight the Hearn-promoted Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) for his IBF belt.
“He’s [Haney] in recess with the WBC, so it’s a unification/regaining a title fight,” said Hearn to Boxingscene about a fight between WBC ‘Champion in Recess’ Haney and IBF champion Liam Paro in December.
What’s unclear is whether the Champion in Recess position counts as a real title that can be used for unification fights. The WBC’s Champion in Recess tag is supposed to mean that ex-champions can skip the line and challenge for their old titles.
The WBC didn’t create it to give to ex-champions for use in unification fights and certainly not to help them evade the IBF’s 10-lb rehydration rule. It would be viewed as sneaky if Haney attempted to use the WBC Champion in Recess for that purpose.
“Liam Paro is real. It’s not an easy come back fight for Haney since stricken loss from his career from Ryan Garcia,” said Chris Algieri to the Probox TV YouTube channel, talking about the potential fight between Devin Haney and Liam Paro on December 7th in Australia.
“Paro has been on a bit of a streak lately. He’s a good mover and seems to have a pretty decent punch. He’s undefeated and riding his momentum very high, which is something I would think about in terms of momentum.
“It’s an interesting fight. If you want to get paid the big bucks, you got to fight top fighters, and that would be a tough fight and an opportunity to fight for another world title. I think the fight makes sense, but certainly a tough fight back for coming off a loss,” said Algieri about Haney.
