Haney Says Norman Win Makes Him P4P, But Critics Disagree

Devin Haney says that if he’s victorious on Saturday night in his battle against unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., he would be worthy of being given a high ranking in the pound-for-pound list.

Haney (32-0, 16 KOs) states that he was ranked on the P4P list when he fought Ryan Garcia, but was removed after his loss. For the record, he was rated #6 after beating Vasily Lomachenko and Regis Prograis in back-to-back fights.

Norman’s Thin Track Record

The problem with Haney’s belief that a victory over Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) would put him on the top 10 P4P list is that he’s not ranked on it. Moreover, Norman Jr. hasn’t beaten any notable opposition during his career, yet he was elevated to the WBO welterweight title.

Haney doesn’t say who he should replace on the list to earn a top-10 spot. The way he looked in his fights against Jose Ramirez, Ryan Garcia, and Vasily Lomachenko isn’t quite pound-for-pound material, is it? 

The Ring Magazine Pound-for-Pound (P4P) Top 10

Terence Crawford
Oleksandr Usyk
Naoya Inoue
Dmitry Bivol
Artur Beterbiev
Jesse Rodriguez
Junto Nakatani
Shakur Stevenson
David Benavidez
Canelo Álvarez

Fans would laugh at Devin if he were to argue that he deserves to be rated by fans above Canelo, Benavidez, Shakur, Nakatani, ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, Beterbiev, Bivol, Inoue, or Usyk. It would make Ring Magazine look bad if they gave him a high ranking.

P4P Politics at Play

Fans are already criticizing their rankings as political for ranking Crawford above Usyk at #1 on the P4P list. But bumping one of the top 10 from the list to include Haney would be just as bad.

“With the Ryan [Garcia] fight, I got knocked off the pound-for-pound list, or at least some people’s list. But I think this is a fight that will put me back on this list, high on that list,” said Devin Haney to Ring Magazine about his belief that by beating WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. on Saturday, it would be worthy of him being added to the pound-for-pound list.

What Haney Must Actually Do

For Haney to be added to the P4P list, he would need to do more than beat Norman Jr. It would be a good start for him, but he would need to put together some solid performances consecutively. He hasn’t done that.

Prerequisite wins needed by Haney for P4P consideration

Brian Norman Jr.
Jaron Ennis
Gary Antuanne Russell
Teofimo Lopez

In Haney’s last four fights, he’s had three lackluster performances in which he should have had two defeats. A 2-2 record in his last four fights isn’t worthy of P4P.

Jose Ramirez: Win – 12-round unanimous decision
Ryan Garcia: Loss – 12-round majority decision
Regis Prograis: Win – 12-round unanimous decision
Vasily Lomachenko: Win – (controversial ) 12-round unanimous decision

“It would show the type of fighter I am. I’m fighting the best guy at 147 in my first fight. I didn’t take any tune-ups or look to find the easiest guy to win a world title,” said Haney. “I went and faced the best guy. That’s just a pound-for-pound fighter. That’s a pound-for-pound champion.”