Devin Haney Open To Replacing Rolando Romero, Fighting Gervonta Davis, Says Hearn

Rolando Romero is slated to fight Gervanta Davis and headline a Showtime pay per view card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 5, but that fight is in serious jeopardy after sexual assault allegations against Romero surfaced over the weekend. 

BoxingScene.com’s Keith Idec reported Saturday Romero will all but certainly be removed as the opponent.

With that fight almost a month away, a more palatable opponent than Romero is throwing his name into the negotiations ring as a potential replacement, according to Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn.

“I don’t know anything about the [Romero] situation but I spoke with Devin Haney and I said, ‘are you happy to put your name in the mix?’ And he said, ‘yeah,’ because at the moment ‘no-go [Joseph] Diaz has not signed his contract after being offered more to fight Devin Haney than he was getting to fight Ryan Garcia, so we’ll have to see what happens,” Hearn told Boxing Social. “We want to make the Jojo Diaz fight, but he has to hurry up and sign the contract.”

Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) was supposed to fight Romero at 135 pounds. Romero also fights under the Mayweather Promotions banner. Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) is the WBC’s lightweight champion and has been yearning for a fight that will catapult his position as a top draw in the United States. A date with Davis would certainly serve his master plan. 

Like Davis, the Las Vegas resident Haney also has Mayweather in his corner as an unofficial mentor. Haney and the fighter of the decade have had a growing relationship in recent years.

Although Haney is open to fighting Davis, Hearn is leaning more toward Diaz. 

“We need to make statement fights in the U.S market for Devin Haney, and our preference is JoJo Diaz. It’s five weeks tonight,” said Hearn. “They’re all training for that date, even JoJo. He was supposed to be fighting on November 27th [against Ryan Garcia], so he’s ready. But at some point, we need to go on sale. On December the 4th at the MGM Grand.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com