Bill Haney expressed his disappointment with Ryan Garcia's choice not to fight his son, Devin Haney.
Initially, a fight seemed likely after Garcia reached out to Team Haney following Devin's win over Regis Prograis, making him the new WBC Junior Welterweight Champion. Oscar De La Hoya from Golden Boy aimed for a March bout.
However, Garcia changed his mind, sparking speculation that Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s influence led to this decision. Instead, Garcia opted to face Rolando Romero, justifying it as a better business move due to a potential world title and a bigger purse. Bill Haney criticized Garcia, stating that he seemed afraid to face the best.
“Lying Ryan said [Haney vs Prograis] did 30(k) and the other people said 50(k). Ya’ll don’t even know how many PPVs it was. I could tell you it was a million and you still wouldn’t know…it don’t make no difference, you scared to death. You know Lying Ryan is scared to death. He jumped in grown folks’ business and raised his hand. That’s why I said he can’t be La Raza. He can’t be from Northern California, where I grew up. He can’t be one of them,” Bill said
Devin’s options include defending his title against Sandor Martin, his WBC mandatory. Martin has stopped his last two opponents after losing his biggest fight against Teofimo Lopez via a split decision. Another alternative is a unification with Teofimo Lopez. The Takeover holds the WBO Junior Welterweight Title after giving Josh Taylor his first-ever defeat. Bill was focused on putting his son against Lopez to decide the best in the division.
“Tell Teofimo Lopez, Teofimo Lopez Sr, stop talking about a decorated real two-time undisputed champion in Crawford. You got Devin Haney problems. You done ran and played enough games,” Bill stated