Boxing analyst Chris Algieri suspects that Devin Haney’s decision to return to the ring after a four-month layoff was to take advantage of the “money” available in the Riyadh Season events by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
The Lure of Lucrative Paydays
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) can’t afford to sit out of the ring for a year, licking his wounds from his loss to Ryan Garcia last April, without potentially missing out on the money available to fighters at Turki’s events in Riyadh and the U.S. Hopefully, Turki has Haney fighting someone good who has a chance of losing.
The former two-division world champion Haney sees fighters making good money fighting on Turki’s events, and he might want to join in before he misses out entirely.
Pauli Malignaggi feels that Haney can’t make the kind of money he wants without Turki because he noticed how he walked away from the dough he would have been paid to defend his WBC light welterweight title against mandatory Sandor Martin.
When Malignaggi saw that, he wondered how much he’d been paid. He felt he hadn’t accomplished enough compared to the money he was getting.
Joining the Gravy Train
“He’s seeing all the money he can make with Turki Alalshikh. You got to strike while the money is there because you don’t know how long it’s going to last. It seems like the Riyadh Season is going to be going around for at least a little while longer,” said Chris Algieri to ProBox TV on why Devin Haney might have decided to return to the ring after a layoff.
It probably is a case of Haney wanting to join to get paid well in a fight put on by Riyadh Season, but he faces someone good. You’d like to think Haney is returning for his love of the sport and competition, but the timing is obviously suspect.
“I don’t know if Haney will be able to grab the money he’s always been looking for,” said Paulie Malignaggi. “When I saw him walk away from the money he was getting against Sandor Martin, I was, ‘Wow. How much have they been paying him?’ Because I didn’t think he had accomplished as much as the money he was making.
“If he’s used to that kind of money considering the competition at 140 lbs, you’re going to need Turki Alalshikh money because there’s no one else that is going to overpay for the market like Turki Alalshikh there because there are very tough fights in the 140-lb division,” said Malignaggi.
Turki is the only one who can pay Haney the money he wants for his next fight and future ones. He’s a boxer in t
“If it’s at 140, there aren’t any real stars except for Teofimo. That’s the only [name] that I think would come together to make a mega-fight, and I don’t see him coming into a fight against Teofimo coming off of the Ryan Garcia fight,” said Algieri. “But I’m not sure it’s at 140, It could be at 147. There are guys that I think he could tangle with.”
I don’t think Haney can make 140 any longer without staving himself. He’s better off moving up to 147 because he won’t have to kill himself to make weight, and there are good fighters he can beat.