Devin Haney said Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom deciding against a bid for his mandatory defence against Sandor Martin was ‘nasty work.’
The American has been promoted by Hearn in the past but now fights as a free agent under his own Devin Haney Promotions banner, linking up with the major companies on a fight-by-fight basis.
Haney recently kept hold of his WBC belt despite a loss to Ryan Garcia due to the latter failing to make weight. It was then revealed Garcia also tested positive for a banned substance on the day before and day of the fight, meaning the sole loss on Haney’s record may be expunged in the coming weeks.
He moves into a mandatory defence against number one contender Sandor Martin, and Top Rank were the only promotional company to bid for the fight, winning it with $2,420,000.
That prompted Haney to target Hearn for not putting his hand in his pocket, but the British promoter told IFL TV he had no obligation to bid.
“I was a bit disappointed really. Firstly, I had no obligation to bid … The reality is, I have a broadcaster. We have plans for our schedule. One of the other issues with that fight is it has to take place within 90 days of the bid. We’re pretty much locked in up until October/November…”
“I think it’s the right fight for Devin, but I have a number of fighters I have obligations to and I need my budget for those fighters … I had a conversation with DAZN and we all felt that this was not a fight that was gonna drive subscribers or create loads of interest and we just decided to pass and spend our money on those fighters who are contracted with us.”
Hearn said another reason for the lack of a bid was because Haney wasn’t a contracted Matchroom fighter, so doesn’t have the privileges they may receive in a similar situation.
Devin is a free agent. A lot of fighters talk about this. When things are going well a free agency can be quite effective. The danger of a free agency is you aren’t aligning yourself to a promoter. You don’t have that emotional association with a promoter that’s going to back you. I’ll always back Devin cause he’s a friend, but at the same time I have no obligation to do so because he hasn’t done so to us and for me.
I’ll look out for Devin, but if you don’t put your loyalty with someone, don’t expect all of that loyalty back. I’ll never do him wrong or do him dirty, I’ll help him where I can, but you’ve got to understand that’s the kind of person I am. If you’re with me, you’re with me. I’m taking f***ing bullets for you. If you want to be with me when it suits you, that’s cool, cause I’ll be with you when it suits me. It didn’t suit me on this occasion. Just like it didn’t suit him to sign a long term deal before he fought Regis Prograis.”
Hearn then said he would like to make a unification between Haney and newly-crowned IBF Super Lightweight World Champion Liam Paro, however the WBC are unlikely to let the mandatory against Martin slide at this late stage.
Haney has cast doubt that he will take the fight and instead may vacate the belt.
