Devin Haney returns with listless win over Jose Ramirez

Devin Haney did not inspire much confidence with his win over Jose Ramirez.

Devin Haney returned with a win over Jose Ramirez tonight, but it came in a dreadful fight that saw Ramirez look washed and Haney like he lacked the confidence to engage at all anymore, an uninspired performance on both sides that would have been booed heartily had an actual fans been in attendance in Times Square.

Haney (32-0, 15 KO) won on scores of 118-110, 119-109, and 119-109, and he deserved those wide cards. But this was anything but a domination, as Haney simply moved laterally for 12 rounds, avoided action as much as he could, and Ramirez (29-3, 18 KO) just lacked the energy to do much about any of it.

The CompuBox numbers say plenty about this particular fight, with Haney landing 70 of 224 total punches to Ramirez’s 40 of 279. CompuBox’s analysis makes note that “in most rounds, Haney did not punch for the first 30 seconds, a couple of times it was a full minute before he threw.”

Haney’s performance is not going to inspire much confidence that he has too good of a shot in a likely rematch later this year with Ryan Garcia. Whatever flaws Garcia has, he is aggressive, fast, and explosive, which Haney knows quite well, and those are all things that Ramirez has never been, really, and certainly isn’t anymore.

At 32, Ramirez just looks miles off the world level pace, and he may have to consider his future in the sport, even at a pretty young age. There are a lot of miles on him and questions about how much passion he has for the sport anymore, and watching him in recent fights, those questions seem plenty valid.