Yahoo Sports · May 1, 2025
How did Devin Haney become a boxing villain?
Video Player CoverDevin Haney is hardly the first boxer to lean into the villain role.
It’s not the path he chose, but he’s opted to play the hand he was dealt. That was on full display during an open workout Tuesday, when Haney (31-0, 1 NC 15 KOs) raced to the corner of the ring, mounted the ropes and reveled in the boos wafting his direction.
The undefeated former two-division champion has grown accustomed to his place among boxing’s most despised. A he admitted at the start of the press tour ahead of this weekend’s DAZN Pay-Per-View from Times Square in New York: “It’s easier to play the villain. … It pays better.”