Former world champion Caleb Plant commented on the criticism directed at Devin Haney following his unanimous decision victory over Jose Ramirez, arguing that the critique is unwarranted.
Plant described his reaction to the fight. “When I saw how Devin fought in the first round, I thought: `Okay, maybe he`s just trying to figure everything out. Maybe he has a little nerves after the fight with Ryan Garcia, and he`ll settle down.`” However, Plant pointed out that maintaining such a cautious approach throughout the entire bout isn`t feasible unless it was the explicit game plan. “But you can`t do that for all 12 rounds with that nervous energy. You can only fight like that for all 12 rounds if you were preparing to do it for 12 rounds. It shows you what their plan for the fight was. That’s what they asked of Haney.”
He emphasized that executing such a disciplined strategy requires significant concentration over 36 minutes. Plant contended that it wasn`t Haney`s obligation to make the fight more entertaining or competitive. “Jose is not a punching bag, and it’s not Devin’s job to provide a more competitive fight. Devin’s task is to win as easily as possible.” Instead, he placed the responsibility for increasing the fight`s competitiveness on Ramirez. “Making the fight more competitive was Jose’s task. His job was to cut corners. He had trouble getting his punches off without getting stuck on his feet. Did he make the fight more interesting? No,” Plant concluded.
Recall that Haney defeated Ramirez by unanimous decision on May 2.