Devin Haney has been out for blood since his fight against Ryan Garcia was overturned to a no-contest. The duo fought each other in April and Garcia defeated Haney in a one-sided contest. The domination shown by King Ry was something that no one expected in their wildest dreams. However, certain investigations revealed Garcia was not only overweight but was also on PED during the fight.
After that, the California resident was served with a year-long ban by NYSAC, forcing him to forfeit his purse winnings of over $1 million to Golden Boy Promotions and imposing an additional $10,000 fine on him. But Haney is not satisfied with this punishment as he filed a lawsuit against his last opponent alleging Garcia of battery, fraud, and breach of contract. Everyone has a different opinion about this act by Haney and Eddie Hearn also revealed his thoughts on the lawsuit and how it can impact the boxing world.
Eddie Hearns supports Devin Haney
Hearn was The Dream’s promoter at the time and the two shared a special bond at that moment. Michael Benson from the Talksport revealed his conversation with the Matchroom Boxing promoter as the latter came out and shared his views about the lawsuit where he declared it as a pivotal moment in boxing history. “This could be a really pivotal moment for boxing because people have said in the past when a fighter fails a drugs test and goes through with the fight, ‘Should there be a legal action or police action against that fighter?” stated Hearn referring to the previous instances where the same thing happened. Hearn firmly believes that strict action should be taken against a boxer who fails the drug test and still goes through the fight and how this case can make it happen.
But considering the fact, that Hearn has been previously accused of pushing the fight between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn even when Benn failed a drug test, puts him in a difficult position to have this opinion.
Hearn further added, “If Haney wins this case, I think it’s gonna really start to deter fighters from taking PEDs. When Ryan Garcia gets a one-year ban it’s no problem, few months off and then you’re back in camp. But if you lose tens of millions of dollars, it puts a different spin on it.” The promoter believes that a decision in favor of Haney will benefit boxing as a whole as it will somehow reduce the number of fighters using PEDs. Furthermore, it will also cost Garcia a loss of millions of dollars not only to fight this case but also to add payments in case of loss.
This attitude by the 45-year-old promoter is surprising because he got into a heated argument with Haney a few days ago. The duo has not been on good terms since their separation.
Hearn and Haney: An ugly spat
The Dream was one of the most prominent boxers under Hearn till his fight against Garcia. After the defeat, both of them separated due to various reasons, and the relationship has taken a turn for the worse since then.
During the Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois event, both of them got into an ugly argument following a distasteful tweet by Haney against Hearn. Hearn made sure to give the boxer a piece of his mind and called him “an arrogant f***ing p***k.” He further advised 31-0 to not disrespect him anymore and how his arrogance can lead him down a spiral. There was also an ultimatum issued by Hearn as he warned Haney to not behave like that anymore.
Considering the spiral that this partnership has gone down recently, it was a good surprise to see Hearn keeping personal stuff aside to support his Haney. This case has the chance to shake up the boxing world no matter the result and even Hearn knows that.
