The Haters Guide To: Devin Miles Haney

When it comes to the very curious case in the world of boxing fanagers and the almost conspiratorial levels of coordinated slander against Devin Haney, it brings back memories of a Boondocks episode. A famous quote by fictional rap superstar artist Thugnificent is, "Man, what did he do to make them niggaz that mad?”
 
Shakur Stevenson fans often stake their flag in the ground with the claim that he was the rightful opponent, immediately following the highly “controversial” battle against the game Vasyl Lomachenko. Devin edged out the victory before Shakur stepped into the ring and birthed a priceless side eye/mean mug photo of the reigning champion. That one interaction was not only the first public kerfuffle, but also the first one for ESPN cameras. The subsequent weeks birthed multiple narratives for the fanbase: 25% contract, take it or leave offer, the sign the contract incident at Club Kamp Houston and the filing of paperwork with the WBC to begin the machinations of forcing the bout between Stevenson and Haney.
 
Soon after, began the wrestling promoter era of Bill Haney, in which another rabid fan base was brought into the fold. Baltimore's own Gervonta “Tank” Davis has always been marketed as a star, and there were always rumblings of a legendary “dawg house rules” sparring session between he and Haney. Over the years, boxing personalities, Lionel “Lonnie B” Thompson, Marcellus “The Boxing Goon” Williams, Adrien “The Problem, The Can Man, and Mr. I Left Here With His Belt (Paulie Malinaggi)” Broner have given accounts of the sparring session, which leaked in portions during the build-up to the infamous April 20th bout at the Barclays. Back and forths have always occurred between the camps, but they seemed to heat up, involving comments about mothers, plenty of derogatory tweet and delete moments, and promises of physical violence and staring at stadium lights from a supine position. Then came the “strange energy” with the fanagers arguing about outfits. As a grown man, that’s a topic for the fanned out, which I refuse to take part in as I have respect for myself. 
 
Then we have the leader of the strange behavior flavor. Ryan Garcia is something of a boxing anomaly, as outside of Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua, one may be hard-pressed to find a fighter with an endorsement outside of some CBD products. Boxing is not a sport that lures many big-name sponsors in for the fighters themselves in our current day and age. Ryan has had endorsements from behemoth brands such as Gatorade, Gymshark, Dior, and ironically (or unironically) 1800 Tequila. Before the controversial matchup on 4/20, Ryan was the babyface of babyfaces in boxing, but with the with the subsequent revelation of at least 3 (possibly 5) positive drug tests for Ostarine, his profile has begun to accrue significant damage, as he’s found himself mired in endless controversies. His fans have since turned their displeasure towards Devin, often making troll posts with sensational headlines, that happen to go viral across multiple social media apps and become sports talk fodder. 
 
Did I mention his father, Bill, happens to rub fans the wrong way? There are plenty of reasons to “hate” Devin Haney, but rarely do any of them come from anything that happened in the ring (unless you blew your parlay, but nobody told you to take Ezra’s EZ Money bet advice).