Devin Haney Rejected Multi-Million Dollar Deal to Avoid Giving Up His “Soul” to Floyd Mayweather, Reveals Bill Haney

There’s a strong reason the Ryan Garcia–Devin Haney fight will be remembered for years. The lead-up to the fight was something never seen before in the boxing world. Moreover, its aftermath hadn’t been your average run-on-the-mill either. The community was still coming to grips with the sensational report of Ryan Garcia failing drug tests. But then, a clip of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bill Haney going at each other soon started gaining traction. It embedded the match in collective memory.

In a fresh revelation, Devin Haney’s father shared how they said ‘no’ to an offer the undefeated former world champion made. As tempting as it would have been, it also meant compromising on certain principles the father-son duo believed in. On April 20, at New York’s Barclays Center, Devin Haney lost the battle to Ryan Garcia, which many considered his to take.

No ‘bill’ no ‘money’

The eighth part of the extensive interview between Bill Haney and VLAD TV saw him talk about dealing with Floyd Mayweather Jr. The channel’s host asked, “Well, Mayweather offered you guys a deal at one point?” Haney Sr. joked that the boxing champion had offered them mere peanuts, and that’s all; breaking into laughter. The VLAD TV host took the matter of Haney’s recent online spat with Mayweather Jr. separately. He just wanted to know whether the five-division champion had any deals with Team Haney.

Bill Haney finally replied, “Yeah, absolutely he offered a deal.” The show’s host checked whether it amounted to a substantial sum. Bill Haney said that it didn’t make any notable impact to the extent that Devin Haney would have preferred losing any control. According to him, that’s what it means when a person comes from the Bay Area in California.

So invariably, they would rather go back on an offer that demands surrendering their independence and the opportunity to exercise free will. “I mean and it’s in us and not on us, right? So to go back with millions of dollars and you’re not a boss and you’re not independent and you have fighters like Devin, he has, you know, Amari Jones, who’s undefeated fighter out of the Bay Area, Shamar Canal, another undefeated fighter from Brooklyn, you know what I mean,” said Bill Haney.

“So you gave up millions of dollars to stay independent?” asked DJ Vlad. “Absolutely,” came the reply. Haney then quipped, “Absolutely but we did not give up. We didn’t give up our soul, right? We didn’t sell out. You know what I’m saying.” Later, Devin Haney’s father explained how taking such a stance as the one they took often leads one down a path of self-doubt.

Bill Haney and Floyd Mayweather Jr.: On your face

Fans saw Mayweather Jr. and Bill Haney going at each other in an expletive-laden exchange on Instagram Live. Mayweather Jr. asked Haney, “I called you to, I’ve been reaching out to you to let you know I ain’t never had nothing against you. What did me-you go wrong? When did me and you start having beef?” He checked further, “I seen you in Miami last time I did. I seen you in Miami before we kicked it. You said what’s up. I said what’s up. We kicked it. We had a good time. Now all of a sudden, it seem like Bill Haney is my enemy.”

Based on his actions, Bill Haney called the undefeated former champion a bullsh*t a** ni***r. The former said, “Everybody that’s been in the town that’s been down with you, you dig what I’m saying; they doing dirt ball bad; ain’t nobody doing real good f**king with you.” The back-and-forth covered a lot of topics, such as issues with Gervonta Davis (now Abdul Wahid).

Moreover, Haney Senior also spoke about the sparring session between his son and the former champion. From ‘what’s my record under the lights’, the spat seesawed to ‘what’s my record in life’. Towards the end, Mayweather Jr. asked whether Haney needed some help or not. Whether his son needed some or not. Bill Haney replied back, “Everybody needs listen. My son needs me today, tomorrow, and every day, so do yours.”

Mayweather Jr. finally asserted that whenever he helped Devin Haney, it had always been out of ‘total love’. Bill Haney disagreed, though. In the end, the former champion told Haney to call him on his direct phone line while the latter flatly refused.

It could be said that the issues have always been there. But the April 20 fight laid many of those dormant ones out in the open, bare. What’s your take on Bill Haney’s assertion? Share your views with us in the comments below.