Promoter Eddie Hearn turned down a purse bid for today’s Devin Haney vs. Sandor Martin, leaving Top Rank as the sole bidder to drop $2.42 million for the fight.
Of that money, Haney will receive a purse of $1,524,600 to defend his WBC light welterweight title against Sandor (42-3, 15 KOs). Spain’s Martin will receive a purse of $653,400.
If you’re Haney, you should be worried about your career and marketing because that low bid was a sign that his loss to Ryan Garcia turned things around.
Haney’s Payday Takes a Hit
The biggest downside for Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) is not even earning $2 million for this fight, making it hard to see him having a chance to get the big paydays he was hoping for against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or Teofimo Lopez. .
Haney can’t lose this fight to Sandor because if he gets beat here, he’ll find himself fighting in one of the obscure networks against some of the same down-outs.
Carl Moretti of Top Rank told Dan Rafael on X, “I understand why Matchroom didn’t bid because Eddie told me he didn’t like the fight. I don’t understand why Devin Haney Promotions didn’t bid since they are, quote, unquote, a promoter again.”
With the purse Haney was going to want, Hearn should have known that Matchroom would lose money if they bid for the Sandor fight and won.
Hearn predicted last April that Haney would vacate his WBC title rather than fight Sandor and take a smaller payday, but he hasn’t done so yet.
Haney’s Uncertain Future
In order for Haney to continue to hold his WBC title, he may not be confident that he can take the belt from one of the champions. He should think he can use the WBC title as a pawn later.
Interestingly, Hearn recently stated that he wants Haney to fight Sandor Martin next. If this is what Hearn wanted, why didn’t he bid?
After the way Ryan beat Haney in the ring, it would be crazy to put him with anyone of middle strength. Hearn seems to think Sandor is safe enough for Haney to fight but not a good enough opponent to bid on.
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