Believe it or not, Devin Haney and Floyd Mayweather were not always on opposite ends of the war. Early on in his career, ‘The Dream’ even trained at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas. ‘Money’ seemed to have liked Haney as a boxer as well, praising his skills. “Keep up the good work. I got a lot more to teach you,” Mayweather wrote on one of Haney’s posts five years ago. However, he never signed the then-young prospect to his promotion, Mayweather Promotions. Regardless, a major flashpoint in the disagreement that followed between the sides came when Bill Haney, Devin’s father, made a serious claim. 

In an interview with Fight Hub TV last year, Haney Sr. claimed his son overpowered Mayweather during a sparring session when ‘Money’ was training for his 2017 fight against Conor McGregor. According to Bill, Mayweather decided to retire from the sport following this incident. This caused controversy, and before Haney’s fight against Ryan Garcia, Mayweather sided with the Victorville native. During this time, ‘King Ry’ leaked a sparring footage between Haney and Gervonta Davis, which Haney claimed was supplied by Mayweather. 

Now, it appears former WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney is ready to bury the hatchet, as he shared one line on social media. The thing is, The Ring recently shared an old clip of Haney and Mayweather in the gym, where ‘Money’ can be seen imparting knowledge about his defensive fighting style to Haney. “When he tries to trap me, I lock him up. You go back and do the same thing over and over again…,” Mayweather said, explaining his impenetrable defense. “The key is to take less punishment… The less punishment you take, the longer you can last in the sport.”

Though the public reaction to the resurfaced clip was largely negative, especially in light of Haney’s lackluster performance against Jose Ramirez, which many labeled boring due to his excessive movement, Devin himself seemed to take a nostalgic turn. Sharing the clip on his Instagram story, Haney penned a one-line admission. “🐐 [GOAT] talk.. I never forgot nothing TBE taught me!” he wrote. Even Bill Haney got in on the action, and shared the clip with the caption, “The key to the fight game when you learn it from TBE. 🚀”

Whether this attempt to mend their relationship restores goodwill between the pair remains to be seen. However, as things look for Haney’s future, he definitely needs some star power to back him up. Earlier reports revealed that Teofimo Lopez and Haney were close to finalizing a deal for a fight. However, Lopez, who had expressed interest in moving up to welterweight, backed out of the deal, leaving the 26-year-old outraged over the last-minute reversal. This came after Ryan Garcia, who fought on the same card as Haney and Lopez on May 2nd, lost to Rolando Romero, pouring cold water on the planned rematch against Haney. 

Haney had suffered a serious beating at the hands of Garcia in April last year and lost a majority decision bout. However, Garcia tested positive for a PED, which turned the result into a no-contest. Nonetheless, now the question is, why did Lopez back out of the fight? 

Manager reveals why Teofimo Lopez won’t fight Devin Haney

After the Lopez-Haney fight, scheduled for August 16th, collapsed, Lopez’s co-manager, Keith Connolly, revealed the reason behind Lopez’s withdrawal. “Teo won’t be ready to fight Haney in August due to personal reasons that I will keep confidential,” Connolly explained in a statement to The Ring.  

“He wanted to make sure he was 100% right mentally and physically, and August was just too quick of a turnaround,” he added. Meanwhile, Haney’s team has voiced frustration, stating, “If Gordo ain’t ready, Gordo ain’t ready,” said Bill Haney. “Money is not a problem: Turki [Alalshikh] has taken money out of the equation.”

That said, while Devin Haney fails to attract a lucrative fight amid backlash, he seems to be feeling nostalgic and ready to bury his feud with Floyd Mayweather. While the two things aren’t related, it would be interesting to see whether Mayweather reciprocates. Do you think Haney and Mayweather’s relationship can be salvaged?