By Chris Williams: Devin Haney says he received death threats and a lot of hate in the aftermath of an interview he made last week. Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) wants to make it clear that he’s NOT a racist, and he wants to put this whole episode behind him now and learn from it.
In a recent interview, Haney said, “I’ll never lose to a white boy.” As one could imagine, that comment from the 21-yer-old has led a firestorm of criticism from boxing fans. Some fans are crossing the line with the way they’re going after Haney.
Haney is hoping to move on from this. He’s already made a statement of regret on social media, letting his boxing fans know he’s not a racist.
Haney’s promoter talks on social media about his comment
Hearn: “We know about the comments from Devin Haney recently,” said Hearn on Instagram Live. “Man, you’ve been upsetting people.
Haney: “I don’t want to upset anyone.
Hearn: “I’ve had a load of messages. ‘What do you think about Devin’s comments?’ For me, I really didn’t find it offensive, to be honest with you. You almost sounded like you were playing on Hopkins’ comments. I don’t want to throw Bernard under the bus, but I don’t know. Did you have a little bit of hate in the last 48 hours?”
Haney: “Yeah, a lot. Anybody that knows me. They know that I’m not racist, and I didn’t mean it in that kind of way whatsoever. I’m been getting a lot of hate, crazy messages, death messages, all kinds of stuff. But, you know, that was not my intent, and I just want to fight the best out there.”
Hearn: “You think sometimes that you do so many interviews. Listen, to work with you is great because you don’t turn down any interviews, but sometimes it’s about you’re only 21. It’ about learning, as well. It’s about getting carried away with the hype.
“We know you want those big fights bad. You want Lomachenko, and you want all these guys. Sometimes it’s about pushing the boundaries to get that attention to be heard. I don’t think you should have said it, but I don’t think you meant anything by it.”
Haney: “Like you said. You do so many interviews. Now it’s to the point where people are picking every little word I say, and drag it out and make it totally different. But I didn’t mean it that way, whatsoever.”
Hearn: A lot of people are coming in here and saying they weren’t offended anyway to me. I know you too well to know you didn’t mean anything by that. Listen, it’s live and learn. Life is a learning experience. Outside the ring as well. You don’t have much to learn inside the ring, but outside the ring, we never stop learning.”
Haney: “We’re still learning in and out.”