Subriel Matias and his handlers immediately took exception to the bold claims by Team Haney. (photo by Ryan Hafey)

The reigning IBF junior welterweight titlist was a keen observer for Devin Haney’s tour-de-force performance in a twelve-round shutout of Regis Prograis (29-2, 24KOs) to claim the WBC crown. Haney (31-0, 15KOs) won 120-107 on all three scorecards to become a two-division champ.

Post-fight talks suggested the 25-year-old could already head to welterweight within a fight or two. However, Matias’ name was mentioned during an interview with Fight Hub TV, to which Bill Haney—Devin’s father, trainer and manager—claimed the Puerto Rican knockout artist made ridiculous financial demands.

“How much boogie he got in him,” the elder Haney told Fight Hub TV’s Marcos Villegas upon the suggestion of Matias as the sport’s latest boogeyman. “I gave Peter Kahn a call about it. He didn’t sound too much boogeyman to me, at four million dollars ($4,000,000). I called him and said, “Devin said let’s talk.’ He said the kid wants four million so I waited about 30 minutes and called him back. He said, ‘No really, the kid wants four million dollars.”

There’s one glaring problem with that scenario, however: Peter Kahn is in no way involved in Matias’ career.

Those who tried to validate the claim suggested that perhaps the Haneys confused Khan’s name with Pedrito Cruz, Matias’ actual manager. Even that doesn’t fly with Matias (20-1, 20KOs) and his team.

"Subriel Matías' team has not received any calls about negotiations to face Devin Haney,” confirmed a spokesperson for Fresh Productions, Matias’ promoter, to Boxing Scene.” Peter Kahn has NOTHING to do with Subriel Matías.

“Promoter Juan Orengo and Matías' manager, Pedro Cruz are the only representatives of ‘Orgullo De Maternillo.’”

Las Vegas’ Haney is a promotional free agent but reunited with Matchroom Boxing for his terrific win over Prograis this past Saturday at Chase Center in his birth town of San Francisco, California.

Matias has spent the past three years under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner, though a relationship which has only resulted in five fights. Among them were a pair of wins over unbeaten junior welterweight contenders. He forced Argentina’s Jeremias Ponce to quit in his corner after five rounds to win the IBF 140-pound title on February 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The first defense of his title saw Matias methodically break down unbeaten mandatory challenger Shohjahon Ergashev, who refused to come out for the sixth round of their November 25 title fight in Las Vegas.

Matias is now in the voluntary stage of his title reign and is open to title unification bouts. A fight with Haney would be welcomed with open arms, but nobody from his immediate team has yet to receive a valid offer. Boxing Scene has confirmed there is two-way interest in a clash with lineal and WBO champion Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13KOs), though the two sides cannot yet connect on a proper date to stage the terrific matchup.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox