Promoter Eddie Hearn was angry at Devin Haney for Tweeting his complaints about him not providing ringside tickets for last Saturday’s Riyadh Season event at Wembley Stadium in London.
Hearn said he didn’t have tickets to give to the former two-division world champion Haney to accommodate his late request for the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois event. He didn’t like how Haney used social media to grieve his complaints.
During the event, Hearn and Haney exchanged words, which someone standing nearby caught on film and uploaded quickly to YouTube so the users could snicker about it.
It’s unclear why Haney would expect free tickets and royal VIP treatment from Hearn because he doesn’t promote him anymore. Moreover, Haney is coming off a loss to Ryan Garcia on April 20th, and his career is now looking shaky.
Whatever preferential treatment Haney was rated before, he doesn’t deserve it now after the way Ryan wiped the deck with him last April in Brooklyn, New York. That fight reduced Haney to a mere commoner and no longer one of the top rung-fighters who rate special treatment.
The days of Haney getting special treatment may be over with after the way he was beaten up by Ryan and exposed by him. Haney needs to make sure he doesn’t burn his bridges with Hearn because he may need him soon if he suffers another devasting loss.
The Commission erased Haney’s loss to Garcia, but the defeat still remains in fans’ minds. As far as fans are concerned, Haney is damaged goods.
If Hearn were Haney’s promoter, the options he would have for him would be dangerous guys that could ruin what’s left of his career. These would be the options: Jaron Ennis, Liam Paro, Subriel Matias, Andy Cruz, Shakur Stevenson, and Jack Catterall.
The only one of those bunch against whom Haney would be the favorite is Catterall, and even he would be risky.
“I got a message from him at 6:00 am on the day of the fight, saying, ‘I need tickets.’ He messaged me 24 hours before, saying, ‘Yo,’ and I had so much going on that I didn’t reply,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing News about what led up to his argument with Devin Haney last Saturday night.
“He messaged me on Saturday morning, saying, ‘I need tickets for tonight.’ Firstly, all the inner ringside tickets were pre-assigned with His Excellency and various people. Plus, we had a month’s notice from our fighters who had put in requests that we had sorted out.
“So, at that point, we didn’t have the tickets. I said, ‘Look, it’s not solely our show. We’re just working on the event. You may have to ask Riyadh Season for the tickets.’ No reply. So, then I’m sitting there at the show, and it’s like, ‘Wow, Eddie Hearn didn’t get me tickets. He’s so two-faced.’
“I just replied, ‘You’re an arrogant [person].’ I pulled him at the show and said, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ He said, ‘Hey.’ I said, ‘No, hey, hey. What are you doing?’ I said, ‘One, you couldn’t be more arrogant. Two, why aren’t you messaging me after I messaged you? You put a Tweet out? You’re like a little kid.’
“I said, ‘You used to be a good kid, you did.’ I said, ‘I don’t like this arrogance that I’m seeing from you.’ I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He was like, ‘No, no. You said something about me in the media.’ I said, ‘No, I was just answering questions. I don’t represent you. So, if I get asked about Devin Haney, I’m going to tell you what I think about the situation. I never said anything disrespectful, but you have.’ So, I said, ‘Don’t ever disrespect me again,’” said Hearn about his brief argument with Haney last Saturday.
