Stephen Edwards says it’s “not fair” to judge Devin Haney based on his poor performance against Jose Ramirez on May 2nd. He states that Devin fought a guy who was on PEDs, took a lot of punishment, and was coming off a long layoff. He feels that Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) should be given a free pass for his non-effort against Ramirez, and that we should give him time to recover from what he went through.
(Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom)
PPV Price With Haney’s Issues
If Haney is going to be headlining on PPV events with him dealing with battle fatigue or Edwards suspects if “PTSD,” fans shouldn’t have to pay the full price to order it. If he’s not capable of fighting at a high level because he’s haunted by the traumatic experience of getting dropped three times in his loss to Ryan Garcia last year, the PPV price should be steeply discounted if he’s in the main event or co-feature.
“First of all, PTSD is real. That’s a real thing. But I don’t think it’s fair to judge a guy on one performance after a long layoff after fighting a guy that tested positive for drugs [PEDs],” said coach Stephen Edwards to Fight Hub TV when asked about his thoughts on Devin Haney’s performance against Jose Ramirez on May 2nd.
It’s important that Haney be evaluated before being allowed to continue fighting if he’s got lingering effects from his fight against Ryan Garcia. As Stephen says, “PTSD is real.” It’s not good for Haney or the fans if he’s not combat-ready to return to the frontlines, if he’s still haunted by the traumatic experiences from his fight against Ryan.
“I think you got to give him a little bit of grace, and let’s see him work his way back in. When you take a long layoff like that, even though the fight don’t count on his record, he was still get hit with those punches [by Ryan Garcia]. It’s only been one fight,” said Edwards about Haney.
Stephen doesn’t say how much time we should give Haney. Should he still be allowed to fight while dealing with his issues? If so, what kind of fights should he take? It’s not fair to the fans who are paying to see his non-entertaining fights on PPV if he’s going to run around the ring.
Give Haney Some Time, Says Edwards
“Sometimes, it takes a little bit of time to get over that. He [Haney] was hurt pretty bad in that fight a few times. It may just be an adjustment process. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time,” said Edwards. “I’m not saying it’s going to take that long [2 to 3 years comeback] for Haney. But it’s hard to judge a guy on one fight, long layoff, and a guy he fought was on PEDs and heavy.”
If he’s got some mental issue like PTSD, it could last a lifetime. There are war vets from Vietnam who still have flashbacks, and therapy hasn’t helped. If this is a chronic problem that Haney has, Turki Alalshikh might want to forget about setting up the rematch with Ryan Garcia. He should forget altogether about using Haney for any of his events and focus on fighters who aren’t dealing with PTSD or battle fatigue.
“It’s a lot of things to weigh on your mind. I know a lot of people think he’s gun-shy and all that kind of stuff. I’m not saying he’s not,” said Edwards. “I’m just saying I don’t want to judge a fighter on one fight. I don’t think that’s fair, especially coming back from a tough performance like that.”
It was just that fight where Haney fought defensively. He did the same thing against Regis Prograis, George Kambosos Jr, Vasily Lomachenko, and Jorge Linares. He tried to clinch his way to a victory against Ryan Garcia, but it didn’t work. He clocked him repeatedly with his short left hook when he would try to hold.
Not a Robot, Needs Recovery
“You can’t expect a fighter to be a robot. This is not a video game where you go right back in there and are willing to do that again. It takes a little bit of time to do that. Not everybody is wired to be like that. Devin is more of a boxer. So it may takes him a little more time to get himself together to get his mojo back.”
Well, when you’re being paid $10 million by Turki Alalshikh for what amounts to be a tune-up against a faded ex-champion, you should try to “be a robot.” Haney was paid a lot of money for his warm-up fight against Jose Ramirez, and he did not earn the money with the way he performed. Edward might be cool with it, but fans weren’t. They purchased the event on DAZN PPV, expecting to be entertained, and they weren’t.
“He was knocked down three times. He thought he was taking his first loss, and they changed it. Now, he has to get himself back together,” said Edwards.
If Haney was still shell-shocked and dealing with PTSD from his fight against Ryan Garcia, he should have turned down the fight and chosen to recover on the sidelines.
