Light welterweight contender Jamaine Ortiz doubts Devin Haney will return to the ring for the remainder of 2024 after his loss to Ryan Garcia last weekend in New York.
Ortiz says Haney made the mistake of meeting Ryan in the center of the ring and looking to trade instead of boxing. With Devin’s father, Bill Haney, talking about wanting him to end Ryan’s career and knock him out, Dev might have felt pressure.
Recovery Time Needed
Ortiz feels that Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) won’t return until the first quarter of next year because of the punishment that he absorbed at the hands of the big puncher Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs).
Jamaine notes that Haney took a lot of hard punches in the fight, and is going to need time to recover from what he dealt with. He feels that match probably should have been stopped because Haney, 25, was getting beaten up by Ryan.
Although Ortiz doesn’t say which round Haney should have been pulled put, it was likely the seventh because that’s when he was dropped hard numerous times and seemingly only saved with the help of the referee taking a point away from Ryan.
“I think he’s going to take six or nine months before he gets back in the ring. I think so,” said Jamaine Ortiz to Fighthype when asked if Devin Haney is done for the year following his loss to Ryan Garcia.
“I don’t know if he returns this year with all the punches he took. I don’t think he’s going to fight this year.”
Haney’s Undisputed Potential
I think he can still look at himself as a champion. He’s trying to make every big fight happen,” said Ortiz about Haney.
I think it’s going to be hard for Haney to see himself as a champion unless he lies to himself because he knows what happened. The way Ryan dominated Haney; he showed that he was not as good as he thought and would be in trouble against a half dozen of the top fighters in the weight class.
“He can look at it [the loss to Ryan] like, ‘It was a catchweight fight. I’m trying to make the biggest fights happen. Disregard [the loss]. At 140 lbs, I’m still champion. Nobody can weigh in at 140 lbs and beat me.’ That’s a way he can probably look at it,” said Ortiz about how Haney can justify to himself how he lost without taking the ego hit.
It sounds like Ortiz wants Haney to lie to himself to save himself from taking an ego hit that would destroy him. Some people can trick themselves like that, but I think Haney is that out of touch.
He knows now that he’s been protected and won’t be able to stay champion if his dad and Matchroom put him in against any of the other champions or talented contenders.
Fighters that could beat Haney at 140:
Subriel Matias
Isaac Cruz
Richardson Hitchins
Teofimo Lopez
Liam Paro
Gary Antuanne Russell
Jamaine Ortiz
Ismael Barroso
Haney can now permanently forget about fighting Gervonta Davis because that fight is never going to happen now after the way he was easily handled by Ryan. The only way it could happen is if Haney came back and beat someone good like Matias, Shakur Stevenson, or Teofimo.
“He should have been boxing more,” Ortiz said about Haney.
