Saudis Wants Davis Vs. Haney; Garcia Vs. Ramirez Is Close
Saudi Arabia is looking to make Gervonta Davis vs Devin Haney in Saudi Arabia this year.
They were linked with a fight after Haney’s win over Regis Prograis made him a two-weight world champion. But talks failed to progress due to question marks over who was the A-side. Haney’s fight with Prograis reportedly sold 50,000 PPVs, making that a hindrance in the negotiations. Haney also wanted the fight at 140 pounds and previously ruled out having a rehydration clause.
This was topical since Haney rehydrated to 165 pounds on the night of the fight with Prograis, having weighed 140 pounds. That put him near super middleweight, showing the weight disparity that was on show. But one thing Saudi Arabia has demonstrated is their willingness to make the big fights. They have put on Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou and are on to course to have Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua vs Ngannou.
Since Haney and Davis are both Muslims, there is the appeal for both to fight in the Kingdom. That is possible since Saudi is willing to pay fighters the fixed purses they want, removing the need to consider splits and who is the A-side. That has gotten boxing fans interested, given Turki Alalshikh’s following comments.
Davis Vs. Haney
“I want him [Gervonta Davis], and I send a message now to Al Haymon. Let’s do the job, brother. I want to see Haney in my country. I will try to do it in 2024.”
One of Haney’s possible opponents, Ryan Garcia, is close to getting into a fight with Jose Ramirez. Ryan was in negotiations to face Haney only to withdraw from talks to target a fight with Rolando Romero. Garcia justified it because it was the better business move. A win would have made him the WBA junior welterweight champion, with a higher purse and the chance to face Haney in a unification. Although that may be the case, Ramirez is now the leading name. The move has naturally raised questions about what happened to the Romero fight. De La Hoya argued that Romero was demanding too much money, leaving Garcia with no alternative but to look elsewhere.
Garcia Vs. Ramirez
But that has played into the narrative that Garcia never intended to fight Haney as per Bill Haney.
“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
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