Devin Haney, Brian Norman Jr. nearly come to blows

Former undisputed lightweight champion and former WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney will meet Brian Norman Jr. on Saturday, Nov. 22, for the latter's WBO Welterweight championship from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On Friday, they will be at a press conference ahead of the Ring III ceremonial weigh-ins to formally announce the Ring IV card event headlined by David Benavidez against Anthony Yarde.

Haney and Norman decided to kick things off a little bit early and not in a good way. Initially, the two ran into each other. The fighters and their teams were cordial and respectful.  

However, things took a nasty turn when Haney and Norman ran into each other a little bit later. Norman says to Devin and Bill Haney, "How do y'all get an opportunity at the belt if once again we so blessed to fight him? We got the belt. Bill proceeds to say to Norman, "We are giving you an opportunity."

Both teams so talking back and forth. Then Norman points his finger at Haney, who then inches closer to the welterweight titlist. Haney smacked Norman's finger away, and then someone from Norman's team put his arm to de-escalate the situation. However, one of Haney's bodyguards steps in, and a confrontation erupts between both teams. The same bodyguard grabs Norman's shirt, and a physical confrontation ensues with Norman tossing the bodyguard to the guard to the ground. The bodyguard quickly got up to his feet, and more screaming and pushing occurred. Haney then walked up and tried to talk to Norman, but was shoved away by the same bodyguard.

Haney is looking to become a three-division titlist. After a no-contest with Ryan Garcia in April 2024, Haney (32-0, one no-contest, 15 KOs) rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Jose Ramirez at the beginning of May. 

Norman (28-0, 22 KOs) is coming off a knockout of the year candidate when he blasted out Jin Sasaki in the fifth round. 

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