Everybody hates Devin Haney. Well, some people. At least in boxing. Any list of the sport’s most polarizing figures includes Haney. Most have him at the top. Critics include Shakur Stevenson (“soft,” Stevenson tweeted at Haney recently), Gervonta Davis (“Email champ”) and Regis Prograis (“Manufactured”), the latter of whom will face Haney for a version of the 140-pound title Saturday.
“I don’t know what it is,” says Haney. “But I embrace it.”
Some of it’s easy to understand. “Jealousy,” says Lou DiBella. DiBella, the Hall of Fame promoter, co-promoted Haney’s last three fights. He was there when Haney took the lightweight belts off George Kambosos Jr. in Australia. He was ringside when Haney defended his undisputed 135-pound status against Kambosos months later. And he was in Las Vegas when Haney won a narrow decision against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
