Light welterweight contender Jamaine Ortiz doubts Devin Haney will return to the ring for the remainder of 2024 following his loss to Ryan Garcia last weekend in New York.
Ortiz argued that Haney made a mistake by meeting Ryan in the middle of the ring and sought to trade instead of boxing. With Devin's father, Bill Haney, talking about wanting him to end Ryan's career and take him out, Dev may have felt the pressure.
Required recovery time
Ortiz feels Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) won't return until the first quarter of next year because of the punishment he took at the hands of big puncher Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs).
Jamaine noted that Haney took a lot of hard punches during the fight and will need time to recover from what he faced. He felt that fight should have been stopped because Haney, 25, was beaten by Ryan.
Although Ortiz did not say which round Haney should have been pulled in, it was likely the seventh round because that's when he went down so many times and seemed to only be saved by the referee's help when he took the ring. a point from Ryan.
“I think it will take him six or nine months before he gets back in the ring. I think so,” Jamaine Ortiz told fight when asked if Devin Haney is done for the year after his loss to Ryan Garcia.
“I don't know if he'll come back this year with all the punches he took. I don't think he will play this year.”
Haney's potential is undisputed
I think he can still consider himself a champion. He’s trying to make every big fight happen,” Ortiz said of Haney.
I think it would be difficult for Haney to consider himself champion unless he lied to himself because he knows what happened. How Ryan dominated Haney; He's shown he's not as good as he thinks he is and will have trouble against the top half-dozen fighters in his weight class.
“He can look at it [the loss to Ryan] like, 'That's an exciting welterweight fight. I'm trying to make the biggest fights happen. Disregard [the loss]. At 140 lbs, I'm still the champ. No one can weigh 140 lbs and beat me.' That’s the way he can look at it,” Ortiz said of how Haney was able to justify to himself the fact that he lost without his ego getting in the way.
It seemed like Ortiz wanted Haney to lie to himself to save himself from an ego hit that could destroy him. Some people can fool themselves like that, but I think Haney is out of touch.
He now knows that he is protected and will not be able to continue as champion if his father and Matchroom let him fight any other champion or talented opponent.
Fighters who can beat Haney at 140:
Subriel Matias
Isaac Cruz
Richardson Hitchins
Teofimo López
Liam Paro
Gary Antuanne Russell
Jamaine Ortiz
Ismael Barroso
Haney can now forever forget about fighting Gervonta Davis because that fight will never happen after he was easily handled by Ryan. The only way that can happen is if Haney comes back and beats good guys like Matias, Shakur Stevenson or Teofimo.
“He should have boxed more,” Ortiz said of Haney.
