Haney Says He Broke Norman Jr.’s Nose In Round Two

Devin Haney says he knows he “knows” he broke Brian Norman Jr’s nose in the second round when he dropped him with a right hand last Saturday. He states that he felt that Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) “didn’t respect” him, and he thought he had to earn the “respect” early or else he’d have had a tough time.

Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) dethroned Norman Jr., taking his WBO welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision on November 22nd at the ANB Arena in Riyadh. Devin says the rest of the contest was “easy” for him after the second-round knockdown. It didn’t look that way to fans. Haney did a lot of holding in every round, using that tactic to nullify Norman Jr’s offense and stall out the rounds.

“That was the game plan. I wanted to shock him early,” said Devin Haney to the InsideRingShow, talking about his second-round knockdown of Brian Norman Jr. last Saturday night in Riyadh. “I knew he genuinely didn’t respect me. I knew I had to get my respect or else it was going to be a long night. That’s what I did.”

Norman Jr. looked like he didn’t regain his self-confidence after being dropped in the second round. He was hesitant to attack Devin the way he’d done against other opponents.

“I went in there. I shocked him, hurt him, and it made the rest of the fight easy for me,” said Haney, talking about his knockdown of Norman Jr. “I know that I broke it [Brian’s nose]. But I want him to get back home safely to his family. I hope that it’s not nothing crazy. I got nothing but respect for Brian and his father.”