Devin Haney has set his sights on a new rival in a different weight division, rather than targeting unification matches with Rolando Romero, Lewis Crocker and the winner of Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia.
The WBO world welterweight champion claimed his title in November, dethroning Brian Norman Jr with a comprehensive points victory after flooring his man in the second round.
Prior to that, Haney had suffered a majority decision defeat to Garcia, which was later overturned to a no-contest after his opponent tested positive for banned substance ostarine.
As a result, the 27-year-old has managed to maintain his unbeaten record while becoming a three-weight world champion, beating the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and Regis Prograis along the way.
But despite previously expressing his desire to unify the major titles at 147lbs, it seems ‘The Dream’ has now become fascinated by a vastly different ambition.
Shortly after defending his IBF title against George Kambosos Jr in June, unbeaten world super-lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins called for a showdown with Haney.
‘Africa’ claimed his strap with an impressive points victory over Liam Paro in 2024, but now looks to defend it against Oscar Duarte on the undercard of Barrios-Garcia this Saturday.
Ahead of their encounter, Haney decided to take to social media, posting on X that he hopes Hitchins retains his title and moves up to welterweight.
“Lmao Africa talk so much s***. I want him to win his fight. I wanna [be] the one to beat his ass.”
It appears that Haney has taken issue with Hitchins’ expletive and belligerent call-out last summer, suggesting their potential clash would come with no small amount of bad blood.
