Haney to face Santiago in chief support for Youtubers' bout

Press Release

04/11/2019

Haney to face Santiago in chief support for Youtubers' bout

Devin Haney will face Alfredo Santiago in the first defense of his WBC regular lightweight title at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday November 9th, live on DAZN in the US, Sky Sports in the UK. [Vasiliy Lomachenko has the WBC "franchise" championship]. Haney (23-0, 15 KOs) was [named] champion at the recent WBC Convention in Cancun, Mexico, following his win against Zaur Abdullaev in New York in September where he overpowered the unbeaten Russian over four blistering rounds. Now Haney makes the short trip from his Las Vegas home to Los Angeles where he faces Santiago (12-0, 4 KOs). The unbeaten Dominican who turns 25 the day after the fight, will be on looking to derail Haney's reign as champion at the first hurdle.
 
"I'm happy we got this deal done," said Haney. "This will be the perfect gift to myself for my 21st birthday. All the fans at Staples Center and the millions watching on DAZN, are going to witness another dominant performance. I'm going to continue to show the world that I'm the best in my division. Alfredo Santiago is my next opponent; he's undefeated, he's hungry, and he's coming to win. I take every fight very serious and this fight is no different. Tune in next Saturday and you'll see that the hype is real."
 
"First and foremost, I would like to thank Matchroom Boxing and Fresh Productions for this opportunity," said Santiago. "This is the moment that I've been dreaming of since I was a kid, and the one I've been waiting for since I became a boxer. I am physically and mentally ready, and I am going to show who the best 135lber in the world is.
 
"Mr. Haney is a formidable fighter who chose the wrong opponent. He cannot beat me. I belong to 'The Terror Squadron', the best boxing team in the world. This is my time."
 
"I am delighted to see Devin defend his World title on November 9th," said promoter Eddie Hearn. "We're going to have a huge crowd of new fight fans at the arena and tuning in all around the world to watch KSI and Logan Paul, and Devin is the perfect fighter to showcase what boxing is all about to a potential crop of new fight fans - he's young, exciting, confident and relatable - the perfect mix.
 
Haney's clash with Santiago is part of a huge night of action in Los Angeles as YouTube sensations KSI and Logan Paul clash in a rematch of their controversial draw - this time as professional fighters.
 
Billy Joe Saunders (28-0 13 KOs) makes his American debut and defends his WBO super middleweight title against unbeaten Argentine Marcelo Coceres (28-0-1 15 KOs), and he is joined on the card by a quartet of American boxers in Nikita Ababiy (7-0 6 KOs), Diego Pacheco (6-0 5 KOs), Reshat Mati (4-0 ) and Alexis Espino (4-0 3 KOs).