Mickey Bey has heard the duck debate from every angle, and Devin Haney’s trainer brought receipts to MillCity Boxing — or rather, he pointed at DAZN’s. Bey’s argument is disarmingly simple: if DAZN put Devin’s name on its logo, that tells you who was willing to make these fights. The people on the inside know what happened, and a platform has nothing to gain by stamping a fighter’s name on its brand unless he is the franchise — the one willing to fight every name that comes across the table. Bey concedes the obvious conflict: of course Haney’s trainer would say that. His answer is that he did not put the name up there. DAZN did.
Bey also addressed Shakur Stevenson’s release from Zuffa — requested by Shakur and granted. Bey, who was managed by J Prince himself back in the day, says he wonders what Prince makes of it as Shakur’s advisor, and notes he never heard of fallouts like this around Winky Wright, Floyd Mayweather or Diego Corrales. His verdict is measured but clear: “You can’t make the fighters fight.” Sometimes, Bey says, it is the fighters who do not want the fights.
On the Haney-Shakur collapse, Bey removes all doubt about his side. Asked about 145 pounds, his answer was “that’s cool — let’s do it.” “We was ready to do it,” Bey says, calling the failure “mainly on the other side” and “mainly a question for Shakur.” Host Mills adds that Bill Haney had told him the long wait on the Shakur and Keyshawn Davis fights was the major holdup before Haney moved on.
What Haney moved on to is Liam Paro, and Bey — who trained Paro in the past and has shared a ring with him — respects the man and the matchup. Paro’s only loss is one split decision, to Richardson Hitchins, and Bey is glad Paro stepped up when others would not: “It was tough for us to get fights. You would think we was coming to the ring with a gun.” But business is business. “He an innocent bystander,” Bey says of Paro. “We got to drag him through the mud” — because Paro is standing on Haney’s undisputed road. Bey’s camp stays ready regardless: he no longer even asks who the opponent is, fighters at 147 near their natural weight can be ready in two weeks, and if Shakur ever does come looking for the smoke, Bey’s advice is the same address — DAZN, where the smoke is.
Video credit: MillCity Boxing.
Read next: Devin Haney Announces Liam Paro Unification Next After Shakur Stevenson Pulled Out
