Devin “the Jog” Haney

Billed as a gigantic weekend of boxing, with a spectacle like never seen before, a fight card in Times Square…Fatal Fury, after all was said and done, was…

BORING.. 

I guess it was still an unprecedented weekend, though, as they set AND broke the record for the least amount of punches thrown in a twelve-round fight. 

I was so disappointed, especially after last week's thriller: Eubanks Jr. vs. Benn. I will never understand why Turki Al-sheikh hasn’t learned from previous failed attempts to build up to “super fights”…Wilder V. Joseph Parker ring a bell? This time, with the prospective Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney rematch in the cards, this event was no different—a snooze fest where largely nothing happened that ended up ruining the rematch

To quickly recap: Devin Haney had his return to the ring against a washed Jose Ramirez, who was coming off a loss. This was a twelve-round snoozer that would put even the most caffeinated individuals to sleep. A fight where both fighters were gun-shy and scared to engage with each other, that ended in a Decision…Shocker. Devin Haney seemed more content to spend his time circling around the ring rather than throwing meaningful punches. And ya know, I don’t blame him…We all know Ramirez has insane Mike Tyson-level punching power. Or at least Devin Haney must have thought he did, and flattered him to having such power, as he ended up avoiding a guy (Ramirez) who threw the lowest amount of punches in a twelve-round fight ever…At least for that night.

So that was that…but at least we were to be saved by another epic masterclass by none other than yours truly…“King Ry” (Insert any clip of Ryan in the build up to the first Devin Haney fight trying to rap, chuggin a beer on the scale, or saying or doing any of the vulger stuff he did). He was seen by all pundits far and wide to have a decisive victory over kindred Loudmouth Rolly Romero. Instead, we got more of the same. Ryan Garcia was knocked down early in the second round by two swift left hooks that he failed to block (Irony). He clearly didn’t like that, so he went into Prime Devin Haney form and proceeded to avoid any action for the remainder of the fight. Even in the twelfth round, where he clearly knew he was losing, there was ZERO sense of urgency. King Ry elected to resign himself to defeat…Disappointing. It’s fitting that two guys all set to fight each other, with the only thing remaining to do was win each of their upcoming bouts, would ultimately mirror each other's styles and blow their biggest payday…

Canelo: one of my favorite fighters…gave one of the worst performances we’ve seen in a minute...from anyone. Unfortunately for him, he had a bad dance partner in William Scull, a guy who had no business being on a stage this big unless it was to clean the blood off the canvas. Now, I don’t solely blame Canelo for this, but in all honesty, he could’ve done more to bring the action. He spent most of the fight walking around and throwing a single out of range hook to the body at a time. I would’ve liked to see him throw more combinations and use some footwork to trap Scull, but it is what it is. 

But barring all of that, this fight should’ve never happened in the first place. But you can thank the IBF for that (making Scull Canelo’s mandatory opponent). They stripped Canelo of his rightfully eanred Undisputed status just to have this barnburner of a fight! Gotta love those sanctioning bodies and their obsessive need to get their fees. Once again, another twelve-round snoozefest decision…Disappointing. 

Contentment and Greed are what can sum up what we witnessed this past weekend. When you begin to fight for the money instead of Legacy, this happens. And this precedent can be credited to none other than the great Floyd Mayweather, who prioritized his record and rate of pay over entertaining the people who made him rich. Granted, he didn’t lack fundamentals and had great technical skill, so I’ll give him that. As a whole, this catastrophic weekend highlights why boxing isn’t growing in the U.S. anymore. Between: the lack luster promotion, need to build to super fights rather than just put them on like it’s WWE or sum, the laziness and lack of focus of the younger talent, and the sanctioning bodies prioritizing getting a quick buck than letting the best fight the best, It’s no wonder Boxing has lost it’s popularity. 

The Times Square card hurts the most, as the fighters on it were billed as the next generation of stars. Really? This is what we have to offer? Two guys more focused on looking cool and playing the role of a boxer and who are quitters. Everything wrong with American boxing can be summed up in one, Devin Haney: scared to engage, Scared to get hit, only in it for show and money, and lacking in basic fundamentals. This can be seen in his unwillingness to keep his right hand up against Ryan Garcia, something Rolly (seen as a lesser fight) could coincidentally do. It astonished me the lack of poise and sense of urgency in all of these fighters combined. And that’s the grander problem here with American sports as a whole. The young generation is more focused on looking cool than actually being cool. We’ve all seen the NBA take a dip in ratings. I heard someone say about the future stars of the NBA and their woes, “they love what the game brings them, not the game itself,” and I see no different here with boxing.

Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Shakur Stevenson have been bred to be the next best thing, and they’ve been told it their entire lives. In return, they coasted off it ever since. In a way, it’s a good thing Rolly won. Out of all I just listed, he was excluded from the pack of the next big things (seen by the odds coming into this fight), and he ended up getting the better of all of them.

It’s a sad miserable state professional sports are in currently, with absolutely nothing to look forward to, and I don’t see it getting any better any time soon…Maybe this is the end?

-K.A.P. 05/11/2025