Bill Haney downplayed Brian Norman Jr’s chances of victory over his son, Devin Haney, today, saying that he’s on a “lower level” for their fight this Saturday night on the Ring IV card on DAZN PPV at the ANB Arena in Riyadh.
(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)
Bill has taken a low of profile in the promotion of the Haney vs. Norman Jr. fight. Today, Bill was front and center, predicting victory for Haney (32-0, 16 KOs) in his title challenge against WBO welterweight champion Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs).
Haney’s Third-Division Hunt
Haney is going after his third division world title on Saturday. If he’s victorious, he’ll hold the WBO belt, and it’ll make his rematch with Ryan Garcia much bigger in 2026, having the belt at stake. It’ll help validate the fight.
“Brian Norman Jr. is on a lower level than him,” said Bill Haney to Fighthype, placing WBO 147-lb champion Norman Jr. below his son, Devin Haney, going into their fight this Saturday. “They’re doing a whole lot of talking. They haven’t beaten nobody like Devin. They haven’t fought nobody like Devin. Until they do it, how can they be doing anything other than dreaming. You’re about to get your a** whooped,” said Bill, sending a message to Brian Norman Jr.
Norman Jr. hasn’t fought the guys Haney has, but there’s still not much that separates their resumes. Devin only has two notable fighters on his career resume: Ryan Garcia and Vasily Lomachenko. Many boxing fans believe that Haney lost both fights. So that undermines Bill Haney’s argument that Devin has a superior resume.
Norman Jr. would have an excellent chance of beating Ryan and the much smaller, older 35-year-old version of Lomachenko that Haney fought in 2023.
Norman Jr. Fires Back
“I feel like Devin Haney is a great fighter. We’ve seen his resume. I added that to myself as a victory. So, you have no choice but to respect me after this,” said Brian Norman Jr. to Fighthype today, talking about the Haney clash. “I can win on points, but I don’t trust the judges at all.”
The way Norman Jr. is talking, he’s sounding convinced that he has no choice but to score a knockout of Haney to avoid winding up losing a controversial decision. That’s putting a lot of pressure on himself by thinking like that. Devin is very difficult to hit cleanly when he’s fighting defensively, moving and giving almost no opportunities to land power shots.
We saw in Haney’s last fight against Jose Ramirez on May 2, 2025, that all he needs to do is land an occasional jab, and that’s enough for him to win rounds. He only landed 70 punches in the entire fight, and still won by a wide 12-round unanimous decision by the scores 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110.
That fight was a dry run for Saturday’s match between Haney and Norman Jr. If he could do that against Ramirez, the chances are high that he’ll do the same against Norman Jr. if he doesn’t get hit with any of his KO blows.
