Pound-for-pound great Devin Haney has been one of the most exciting boxers in the 21st century.
With a professional record of 31-0, the former unified champion has proved himself against the very best in both the lightweight and super lightweight divisions.
Despite still being just 26 years old as of March 2025, ‘The Dream’ has been an influential figure in various weight classes over recent years.
Becoming a world champion for the first time in 2019, Haney has since fought at the very peak of the sport. However, his first world title defense came at an unlikely event.
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Devin Haney won his first world title bout in Los Angeles in 2019
In October of 2019, Haney became the WBC World Lightweight champion after his interim status was upgraded.
Haney had won the interim title just the month previous, as he defeated Zaur Abdullaev via fourth-round retirement.
This would mean that when Haney took on Alfredo Santiago in 2019, he would go into the bout as the defending champion. With a dominant performance, Haney was victorious in his first world title bout.
Putting the challenger down in the fifth round, Haney won every single round of the bout that took place in the Staples Center, Los Angeles on the judge’s scorecards.
However, despite being a budding star, there was a far more unlikely pair in the main event in Los Angeles that night.
Devin Haney’s first world title fight was on the undercard of Logan Paul vs KSI II
In a battle of internet stars, Logan Paul and KSI would be the headline fight at the Staples Center in November 2019.
The all-influencer fight was a rematch of their amateur bout, which ended in a draw. However, Paul would lose his professional boxing debut, as KSI was a split-decision winner.
However, Haney was not the only world champion competing underneath the two internet stars that night.
Also making his first world title defense was Billie Joe Saunders, who was the WBO World Super Middleweight title holder. Defeating Marcelo Coceres via knockout, he joined Haney in defending his title.
However, two years later Saunders would suffer a brutal eye injury when facing Canelo Alvarez, losing his belt in the process.