Devin Haney couldn’t stand still, looking nervous, bouncing around during his face-off with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. at today’s final press conference for their fight this Saturday, November 22nd, at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Haney (32-0, 16 KOs) looked shifty-eyed, stuttering when speaking, and showing fear throughout the press conference. His attempts to disguise his fear by jumping around didn’t work. One could tell from looking at him that he didn’t want to be on stage in Norman Jr’s presence.
The conference that Haney once had pre-Ryan Garcia fight is gone. He’s like a different person since suffering that three-knockdown loss. Today was just a clear example that Devin is still haunted by what happened.
Devin’s last fight against Jose Ramirez, in which he ran around the ring for 12 rounds, looking like a war veteran coming off the battlefield, broken mentally. Haney doesn’t look like his mind has recovered from that experience.
Turki Alalshikh is going to be fuming in the front row if Haney turns in another Jerry-esque performance on Saturday, like he did against Jose Ramirez at Times Square in New York. He’s paying Haney a fortune to be on this card, and he’s already given his famous no Tom and Jerry mandate.
“We fight everybody different,” said a nervous-looking Devin Haney when asked about his reaction to Brian Norman Jr’s comment at today’s final press conference that he’s going to run from him on Saturday night. “I fought [Jose] Ramirez different than I fought Loma. I fought Loma different than I fought Regis.
At this point, it’s questionable whether Haney can take a hard punch from Norman Jr. without suffering flashbacks from what happened to him against Ryan. That’s if he doesn’t go down immediately from the shot.
“So, the world has got to see what game plan me and my team has drawn up, and how I’ll beat this guy,” said Haney. “No, I think he’s a great fighter,” said Devin when reminded about his recent comment about calling Norman Jr. a ‘bum.’ “Devin Haney, WBO champion,” said Haney on what his prediction is for Saturday.
Whatever game plan Haney’s team has “drawn up,” it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to follow it. When a vet suffering from fatigue is thrown back into the front lines, they’re unreliable and beyond following orders. The most likely thing we’ll see from Haney on Saturday is a repeat of what he did against Ramirez, with him on his bike, doing all he can not to get hit.
“If I want to go to the cards, I can do that. If I want to knock him out, I’m definitely going to do that anyway as is,” said Norman Jr. “It’s me stamping my name in the game. The boy going to sleep.”
Last Updated on 11/20/2025
