How often do you see a CEO being understanding of someone who takes a shot at the founder of their company? Devin Haney became the WBC super lightweight champion after securing a win against the reigning champion, Regis Prograis, on 9th December. Throughout the training, press conference, the bout, and even after that, the father and trainer of ‘The Dream’, Bill Haney has stood right behind his son. Be it engaging in a heated argument with Prograis’s trainer or calling out Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta Davis, the senior Haney has not hesitated a bit.
After Haney’s recent win, Bill Haney expressed his discontent in a heated confrontation, directly challenging Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta Davis for what he sees as inadequate efforts in promoting boxing. As the debate about whether this time he went too far by targeting Mayweather ensues, Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, has given his brutally honest response to the dig while still being understanding of the father. Why? Let us find out.
One thing that many don’t know is that the Haneys’ relationship with Mayweather goes back some time. For a while, Devin even trained at Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym. Mayweather even put his time and energy into training Haney when he was very young. This is exactly the argument one netizen raised on X. They said, “Bill Haney busting shots at Floyd is a low. Devin Haney was schooled by Sinsei Mayweather and now Bill switching up.”
After his son’s recent victory, Bill Haney did not hold back, openly criticizing the current business model that charges fans high prices for fights. Ellerbe, however, feels this was just an attempt by the father to promote his son.
“He jus promoting his son like he supposed to. I’m not entertaining the nonsense, I deal with facts,” responded Ellerbe, replying to the comment of the netizen. The CEO might not agree completely with the trainer, but he understands what he is trying to do.
Haney did not say anything directly in this regard. However, he placed the blame on ‘Money’ Mayweather this June for the current state of boxing. He held Mayweather responsible for the reluctance among fighters to engage in challenging matchups and promoters prioritizing financial gains over genuine competition. As Haney said, “Floyd made boxing bigger, but he kind of messed up the game with the undefeated record so guys don’t wanna fight each other, they just wanna keep the 0.”
He suggested that following the UFC model, where fighters readily face each other, could revolutionize boxing. “We could change the whole dynamic of boxing and make it like the UFC – those guys fight each other, lose, fight again in maybe even bigger fights after a loss,” noted Haney. In Haney’s view, a shift away from this mentality could rejuvenate boxing and lead to more authentic and compelling matchups.
