With his dominant win over Brian Norman, Devin Haney deserves to be on every fight fan’s pound-for-pound list. Devin Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing at the moment and now has the WBO welterweight title belt around his waist to prove it.
Norman (28-1, 22 KOs, 1 NC) was supposed to bully the glass-chinned Haney in Riyadh. He was supposed to do to Haney what Ryan Garcia did to Haney. Instead, Haney lost that fight on the cards, though it was later changed to a no-contest when Garcia tested positive for a banned substance.
Devin Haney proved many doubters wrong on Saturday 😤#RINGIV | @ringmagazine▪️ pic.twitter.com/XIw2ePy7mZ
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 25, 2025
Devin Haney’s chin is better than boxing fans rate it. Sure, he was wobbled by Jorge Linares and dropped multiple times by Ryan Garcia. Yet, even in that fight, it’s important to remember that Ryan Garcia never stopped Haney. Haney got back to his feet every time he was knocked down to the mat.
Haney looked like the bigger fighter against Norman, and, if anything, he, too, played Garcia’s role. In Riyadh, Devin Haney was the bully.
In retrospect, too much was made of Norman’s big fifth-round knockout of Jin Sasaki to defend his WBO title. Norman had never been twelve rounds in a professional boxing match until then.
Psychological Warfare
Devin Haney | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
Haney dropped Brian Norman Jr. with a left hook in the second round. Then, instead of heading to a neutral corner immediately, he loomed over Norman and menacingly made eye contact. It was great psychological warfare, but it may have cost Haney the stoppage as Norman recovered. He also changed his approach to leave himself less open to that left hook. Haney dominated the rest of the fight handily.
This wasn’t Haney’s first time out being the big man. In all of his fights from 135 to 147 (with the exception being his fight with Ryan Garcia), Haney looked like the bigger man in the fight.
What Was Devin Haney’s Best Win?
The Norman Jr. win was a big one for him. However, his victory over Vasily Lomachenko is his most significant. For a then-24-year-old, it was an excellent performance against what was potentially the most outstanding amateur boxer ever. It was a close fight going into the twelfth and final round. Haney dug deep and won.
But Lomachenko had been defeated before, and his victory over the undefeated Norman Jr. is probably his second-best win to date.
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