Trainer Jeff Mayweather thinks former undisputed lightweight champion and current WBC junior welterweight champion-in-recess Devin Haney 31-0, 1NC (15) is making a grave mistake by taking a prolonged break from boxing.
The 25-year-old Haney announced he would be taking two years off from the sport following his fight against Ryan Garcia 24-1, 1NC (20) in April.
That bout was shrouded in controversy when Garcia, also 25, missed the 140-pound limit by more than three pounds. Garcia dropped Haney three time and won the bout by majority decision, but the result was overturned and ruled a no-contest after Garcia’s drug tests came back positive for the banned substance ostarine.
Garcia was slapped with a one-year ban from boxing and incurred a hefty financial penalty. Haney has flip-flopped on whether he would like to fight Garcia again, with his most recent stance being that he would like a rematch.
“Right now, my focus is on handling business at hand and then I’ll return to the ring when the time is right,” Haney said on The MMA Hour.
“He will pay for what he did in and out of the ring. This whole situation has cost me money. I would love for my next fight to be against Ryan Garcia, if everything is right. That’s not feasible.
“I may return sooner, but the desire to face Garcia remains strong. That is the fight the world wants to see. Of course, I want to get mine back in blood. I am just that kind of fighter.”
There is little doubt that Haney could do with a break from the sport and the circus that engulfed his last fight, but will two years on the sidelines prove to be a boon or a curse?
“He’s in his prime. I don’t think he should take that much time off. I know he’s going to be training and still some kind of shape. Still, two years is a long time,” said renowned trainer Mayweather on his YouTube channel.
“You’re taking two years off only to fight Ryan when there are a lot of people in line waiting to get their chance to fight for a world title. Obviously, it’s going to be in your head, but it’s going to be more in your head if you take that long just to try and right that wrong that happened to you. That’s a long time.
“I don’t think it’s wise to take two years off just to wait on somebody that beat you. It don’t take two years. You’re waiting on a guy that fought you for your world title. You didn’t fight him for his world title. So why are you waiting for a guy who got caught cheating and fought you?”
Garcia has maintained his innocence in the performance enhancing drugs saga, most recently blaming a mysterious man named ‘Scooter’ for his failed test.
“They guy that came to help me lose weight, his name was Scooter, he bought me supplements and I took the supplements and that was the day before the fight and it just so happens that I tested [positive] the day before and the day after,” Garcia said on Instagram Live last week.
“So a guy came in to help me lose weight and I took the supplements he gave me, and for sure those are the ones.”
Mayweather isn’t buying it.
“You may fight him again and he might use the same thing or something different. I guess they won’t have Scooter this time,” he said.
