Bill Haney says he wants Devin Haney to face Jack Catterall in the UK rather than the US because he wants to do something for the British fans.
He’s not saying it will require Turki Alalshikh to finance the fight because, with the purse Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) would want, he might not get the kind of spoils he wants from Catterall’s promoter Eddie. Hearn can’t provide it.
On paper, this would be the biggest fight Catterll could get at 140, even bigger than Teofimo Lopez, who has yet to find a draw despite holding the WBO light welterweight title since 2023.
Haney Wants To Fight In UK
Catterll’s lack of guilt, low work rate, and aggressive nature when attacked are obvious reasons why Haney and Bill wanted to fight him. He didn’t look impressive in his fight with Regis Prograis last Saturday night, and they know he’s an easy mark.
“Who else is better than Catterall? We’re not talking about Jack here. We say Jack from the UK in his hometown where everyone believes in him is what we find interesting,” said Bill Haney speaking to Thaboxingvoice about wanting his son, Devin Haney, to face Jack Catterall in the UK.
You can’t blame Haney and Bill for targeting Catteral because it’s a fight they can win as we saw last Saturday in his fight with Regis Prograis. Catteral does not have the emotion of a killer, and seems to shy away from being attacked. He was running in the ring when he was attacked by Prograis.
“It’s an opportunity to fight in the UK,” said Bill. “It’s not a sad thing as Devin is the A side champion in America going to Australia, going to the UK. I think fighting Catterall at 140 puts us in line with Teofimo Lopez or any champion at 140. “
I don’t think Haney and Bill would have wanted anything to do with Catteral if he was a dangerous puncher. This is about Haney seeing a weakness in Catterall, and wanting to take advantage of it.
“I think the fight with Blair Cobbs at 147 will lead us to fight for the belt at 147 against one of the champions out there,” said Bill. “Catterall is not big enough to force us to go there. It’s about going there for UK fans. That’s definitely on our to-do list.”
Bill has a generous attitude about wanting to give to UK fans, but it’s hard to believe that this is a self-sacrificing move on his part. He must see that there is money to be made in the UK with the crowd, and it will help Haney’s popularity to be seen beating Catterall in front of the crowd.
“If Jack Catterall gets the UK fans going, there’s their boy. That is an opportunity for us to go there. It’s about meeting Turki Alalshikh and, of course, Eddie Hearn making that fight what it could be. If the fight doesn’t happen with Catteral, we can go back home and fight someone there,” said Bill Haney.
It remains to be seen whether Turki will be interested in sponsoring a fight between Haney and Catterall. If he does, he’ll probably want a war in Saudi Arabia rather than the UK, but that won’t change anything. Haney would do it because the money would be very good.
It will be interesting to see if the fight of Haney vs. Catterall does it because the needs of Devin’s fund will make it difficult to do without Turki’s involvement. It is possible that Hearn would refuse if Haney asked for a large sum of money to fight Catterall.
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