By Ricardo Lezama 
In the aftermath of Devin Haney’s unanimous decision victory over Jose Ramirez on May 2, 2025, controversy has arisen due to claims made by Haney’s father and trainer, Bill Haney. Bill asserted that Ramirez was so severely affected by the bout that he required hospitalization. However, this narrative has been directly refuted by Ramirez’s trainer, Robert Garcia, rightly took issue to the characterization.
Not only was the claim a gross exxageration, the actual fight was impossibly low in activity to seriously hurt either fighter. The fight statistics support Garcia’s assessment.
Over 12 rounds, Haney and Ramirez combined for only 503 punches thrown, indicating a lackluster and uneventful match . This performance has led to criticism from fans and pundits alike, who expected a more dynamic display from Haney, especially as he aims to rebuild his reputation following the overturned loss to Ryan Garcia.
Via social media, Garcia emphasized that Ramirez did not sustain any injuries necessitating hospital care and criticized Bill Haney for fabricating such a story. He stated, “He’s lying” highlighting that the fight lacked significant action and that Haney’s performance was more about defensive technique than engagement, a point not lost on most boxing fans.
Every fighter did that. That’s where they checked every fighter post fight. Don’t start this nonsense. Congrats you guys won. No need for this BS. https://t.co/TiZkzFkoYp
— Robert Garcia Boxing (@GarciaBoxing) May 4, 2025
As most commentators, even Antonio Tarver and Jim Lampley, took to describing them as “running” rather than boxing, and suggested that Haney’s approach was overly cautious, possibly due to lingering effects from his previous bout with Ryan Garcia.
It stands to reason that Robert Garcia, a trainer not known for superflous statements or braggadicous claims about his fighters, also went a step further and firmly declared that he had lost respect for Bill Haney:
Dan Rafael and Tim Bradley etc. said the fight was boring. But after 12 rounds with Devin Haney, Jose Ramírez ended up in the back of an ambulance while Devin sat ringside, laughing and ready for the next challenge.
— Bill Haney (@BillHaney77) May 4, 2025
Hurt business ain’t rock ’em sock ’em.#WinOrLose pic.twitter.com/IXRBxA4Ibn
The pairing of clearly false statements with lackluster performances that are technical victories, but grossly unsatisfying, is leaving a stench on boxing when last weekend’s fight, between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, left audiences with a desire to even see a rematch. One could reason that this type of commentary is damaging the sport more than anything.
The controversy surrounding Bill Haney’s claims appears to be an attempt to reframe the narrative of the fight, portraying it as a dominant performance by Devin Haney. Again, the lack of substantial action during the bout and the direct contradiction from Ramirez’s camp undermine this portrayal. As the boxing community continues to scrutinize these events, the focus remains on the authenticity of in-ring performances and the importance of accurate representations in the sport. Thus, we can only hope that coaches with suspect victories attempt to, at least, placate the majority of boxing fans by being realistic about their narratives.