Devin Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) unseated WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision in a fight that was closer than the scores turned in by two of the judges on Saturday night at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)
Haney, 27, had a good second round, dropping Norman Jr. with a right hand. He wasn’t hurt, as he showed after getting back to his feet and blocking most of the flurry that the overeager Devin threw.
The scores were 114-113, 116-111, and 117-110, all in Haney’s favor. There were quite a few fans who believed that Haney should have been penalized for holding excessively.
It was a similar fight by clinch-heavy performance Haney that he’d turned in against George Kambosos Jr. and Jorge Linares in the past. He said he’d fight differently than he did in his last contest against Jose Ramirez, and he was right. Instead of moving all night, he held most of the contest, making it very, very boring for fans to watch.
Like in Haney’s fight with Ramirez, his punches connected low. However, the referee for that wasn’t because of his running. It was because he was holding so often that he was stalling out the rounds, with each hold taking up almost 10 seconds and sometimes lasting longer when he chose to wrestle to keep Norman from breaking free.
Punch stats
- Haney – 70 of 271 for 26% connect rate
- Norman – 59 of 399 for 15%
“In 2026, I’m coming for everything,” said Devin Haney to DAZN after his victory over Brian Norman Jr. on Saturday night in their fight in Riyadh. “He came out exactly as I planned. I was able to capitalize after I hurt him and dropped him, he made an adjustment. So, I had to adjust to that as well.
Haney makes it sound like he did something scientific with his readjustments. In reality, he held frequently when Norman Jr. stopped fighting and began attacking in the fourth round. The holding was excessive. It would have been entertaining if Haney’s reasdjusstments involved throwing punches instead of holding, but that wasn’t the case.
“He’s a true champion [Devin sounding like Floyd]. He’s definitely better than I expected. I think him for the opportunity. He gave me the opportunity to become champion again. We readjusted and racked up those rounds,” said Haney, leaving out what he did to readjust, which was a lot of holding.
“Yes, of course. 147 was the weight division I was supposed to be at for a long time,” said Haney when asked if welterweight is the division he feels most comfortable at now. My dad was telling me it was time to move up for so long. But there was so much at stake at 135 and 140. But I’m here to stay at 147 for a long time.”
Haney has no choice but to stay at 147. He lacks the power to move up to 154, and he’s not going to beat the top fighters in that division by holding like he did tonight. That style won’t work against talents like Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Sebastian Fundora, or Bakhram Murtazaliev. You’ve got to be able to throw punches to beat them.
