Devin Haney Named 'Retired Champion': WBC orders Alberto Puello-Sandor Martin
Devin Haney made his choice.
The decision was made to drop the undefeated two division title to the WBC 'Champion in Recess' at junior welterweight. Haney, ranked No. 1 at 140, requested the move after he told the sanctioning body that he could not go ahead with an obligation to defend his title against Spain's Sandor Martin.
“WBC Super Lightweight World Champion Devin Haney has asked to be placed in the position of Champion in Recess,” confirmed WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. “The WBC Board of Governors has unanimously approved Champion Haney's request and declared him the WBC World Champion in Recess.”
The decision came less than a week after Top Rank won the rights to Haney-Martin's title fight. Haney (31-0, 15 knockouts; 1 No-Contest) was due to earn $1,524,600 for the fight, which was slated to take place this fall.
However, he recently revealed his intentions to relinquish his current title and is likely to stay for a year.
War was declared on May 11 but a 30-day negotiation period came up without an agreement. The call came after Haney's 12-round majority decision loss to Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs; 1 NC) on April 20 in Brooklyn, New York.
Haney retained his title despite the rejection, due to Garcia weighing 3.2 pounds over the division limit.
Garcia became the subject of a drug testing investigation after testing positive for the banned substance Ostarine in three separate tests. An agreement was reached with the New York State Athletic Commission that Garcia be suspended for at least one year and the result changed to a No-Contest.
There is still the issue of defending his title. Haney was reluctant to go ahead with the fight, but decided to release the outcome of the fund bid before making that decision.
Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), No. 9 out of 140, he is yet to get his title. He will face Albert Puello (23-0, 10 KOs), who was recently promoted to the full roster from an interim status. Both sides will have 30 days to reach the terms.
The result nullified the Top Rank purse bid, and the process will be reset.
Following that decision, Gary Antuanne Russell (17-1, 17 KOs) was named next in line to challenge the Puello-Martin winner.
Russell lost by split decision to Puello in their June 15 interim bout for the WBC 140-pound title. The 2016 US Olympian from Capitol Heights, Maryland protested to the WBC to order an immediate rematch against Puello. The sanctioned organization instead promised to shoot the last man standing.
Haney will likely campaign at welterweight moving forward. However, he did not commit to his next move as of publication.
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