If there’s one thing people love it’s watching someone fall from on high. Call it jealousy, or caving in to the dark side of human nature, the fact remains people find it enjoyable and amusing to watch as someone’s world collapses. Such is the case with one Devin Haney, who has gone from being seen as one of the top fighters on earth to being the butt of online jokes in the course of a single year (for the record, this article will not touch upon Haney’s private life, which has lately been used as fodder for the social media/gossip complex).
In the early portion of 2024, Haney was viewed as one of the top fighters in the sport. He had won numerous world titles and was preparing to face the wily Ryan Garcia. Suffice to say, Haney was expected to win the bout handily. Haney had defeated the likes of Regis Prograis, George Kambosos, and Vasyl Lomachenko, after all. While Garcia was a genuine celebrity at this point, his biggest fight to date was a knockout loss to the fast, explosive punching Gervonta Davis. Simply put, Haney was expected to pretty much school Garcia in the ring.
It didn’t happen. Garcia, who had come in considerably overweight, and had made a public spectacle of himself in general, knocked Haney down several times in what was without doubt a one sided beatdown. It was a stunning turn of events, one that went on to become more stunning when it was learned Garcia tested positive for a banned substance both before and after the fight. The bout was ultimately ruled a no-contest. Still, the damage to Haney’s reputation was done. Now one might be hard pressed to find a positive comment about the man on social media.
Which is a shame. Why? Because although some will write off Garcia’s positive tests as something that didn’t effect his performance against Haney, only one man entered the ring that night substance-free and on weight. Such things matter. What’s more, until the Garcia fight proves to have been more than a disasters exception to the rule, Haney remains one of the best fighters in contemporary boxing. Furthermore, Haney is still the WBC junior welterweight titlist. That means he isn’t going anywhere unless he he himself decides to.
Chances are the man will be back within the next 12 months…which means that he won’t likely be written off for long.
