Brian Norman Sr. says his son, WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) is going to be attacking Devin Haney and not looking to time him coming in on November 22nd. He argues that Norman Jr. is the ‘bigger guy,” and he’s going to be pressing the challenger Haney (32-0, 16 KOs) throughout their fight at the ANB Arena in Riyadh.
“We’re not looking to time Devin Haney. We’re the bigger guy. Why would you be trying to time the smaller guy?” said Brian Norman Sr. to MillCity Boxing about his son being focused on being on the attack rather than reacting to Devin Haney’s shots on November 22nd.
Norman Sr. Promises Relentless Pressure
“We’re going to be pressing the smaller guy. Brian Norman Jr. does not wait. We don’t wait. Brian Norman Jr. is going to be pressing the action,” said Brian Sr. in reacting to Haney’s sparring partner Troy Isley saying that Norman Jr. will be looking to time Devin.
No Counterpunching, All Forward Motion
Isley doesn’t seem to have watched Norman Jr. enough to know his style of fighting. He’s a front-foot fighter who attacks his opponents. He’s not a counterpuncher.
“My thoughts on that situation is he’s an immature a**hole,” said Norman Sr., reacting to being told that Haney laughed when told during an interview on the Ariel Helwani show that Top Rank still hadn’t gotten a network deal.
Haney was repeatedly laughing when Helwani mentioned that Top Rank still hasn’t got a broadcast deal. Brian Norman Jr. is with Top Rank, so it’s understandable that he would laugh. However, if Haney gets knocked out by Norman on November 22nd, he’ll be getting the last laugh.
Devin’s career will be in bad shape at that point. It’ll be interesting to see if Turki Alalshikh continues to use Haney for his events and replaces him with fighters who are still on the rise.
There are plenty at 140 and 147 who are fighting at a higher level than him right now. Devin had a nice run for a while when he was competing against smaller fighters at 135, but he has not looked like the same fighter since he left the division.
“He Ain’t Got No Power,” Claims Norman Sr.
“I know why he ain’t got no power. He don’t know how to punch,” said Norman Sr. about Haney. “You can watch him and see why he doesn’t have no power. He’s going to have to be another person to have power.”
It’s not about Haney lacking form. He throws often with perfect form, but he lacks power. It’s not there, and likely never will be. After 10 years in the pro ranks, Haney should have already shown whether he’s going to be a puncher or not. He’s had countless trainers, and the power just has never arrived. He’s closing in on 27, and his KO rate is 46.88%. He hasn’t knocked anyone out since May 25, 2019, when he KO’d Antonio Moran in the seventh round. That was the perfect hand-to-hand punch that caught Moran on the chin.
“Your chin put you down, but your willpower got you back up,” said Norman Sr. about Haney, saying this week that his getting up three times in his fight against Ryan Garcia is proof that he has a good chin.
Haney’s Survival vs. Garcia: Holding and Heart
The real reason Haney survived the three rounds that he was dropped against Ryan was due to two factors.
- The holding he did after getting up
- Poor stamina