A bout between the WBO welterweight champion Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) and Davis (15-0, 10 KOs, 1 NC), his mandatory challenger, was ordered by the sanctioning body last month, and the clock is ticking for the fight to be made in the coming days.

Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) recently came close to securing a deal to fight Haney. However, the arrangement couldn’t be made, and the WBA 147-pound champion decided to meet Teofimo Lopez Jr. (22-2, 13 KOs) on August 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN and Prime Video Pay-Per-View.

“I hope Devin fights his mandatory because he's trying to get out of the Keyshawn fight,” Romero told The Ring and other media. “I think Keyshawn can take it. Keyshawn has that dog in him. When people have that dog, and you don't have power, you can't do anything about it. You have to straight up deal with it. Keyshawn has a lot of experience and is an Olympian. On top of that, he's big and long.”

Romero then explained why the title unification fight against Haney fell through and the aftermath.

“I pressed the initiative. We sent the offer, and he said it was a respectable offer. And then he said we outpriced ourselves. It doesn't make any sense,” Romero said.

“The Devin Haney fan base is completely filled with idiots. They just go off whatever initiative they think it is. They think people are actually ducking this dude. I think he has a bunch of bot accounts from Pakistan that work for him.”

Haney caught wind of Romero's comments and offered a rebuttal.

"Using me to promote. Rolly has no fans. He came off the biggest win of his career and sat on the shelf for a year," Haney said on social media.

Romero, a 30-year-old from Las Vegas, last fought in May 2025 in New York and dropped Ryan Garcia en route to scoring a career-best unanimous decision victory.