Alberto Puello has demanded a fight against WBC No. 1 junior welterweight contender Sandor Martin and argued that titleholder Devin Haney, who recently lost to Ryan Garcia, should be stripped of his belt.
The Dominican Republic native (23-0, 10 KOs) won the WBC interim junior welterweight title last Saturday with a split decision victory over Gary “Antuan” Russell. Despite being heavily underdogged, Puelo defied the odds to win the interim title and quickly set his sights on a full title shot.
“I am the one who deserves to be WBC champion, not Devin Haney. He just got beaten at the hands of Ryan Garcia,” Puello tweeted. “How can he still hold the title if he doesn't want to fight Martin? Tell him to relinquish the title and I'll take care of it.”
Haney, 25 (31-1, 15 KOs), was quick to respond to Puello’s comments.
Haney lost a majority decision to Garcia in April, but Garcia failed to make weight in time and failed two PED tests, so Haney remained the champion.
“Brothers, kiss my ass…I do what I want,” Haney tweeted in response to Puello.
Puelo's request came after he was suspended for six months starting in June 2023 after testing positive for the banned substance clomiphene in a drug test administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) on April 5. The positive result forced Puelo to miss his scheduled title defense against Rolando Romero, costing the former WBA junior welterweight titleholder his title. Romero subsequently won the vacant title with a controversial ninth-round stoppage of Ismael Barroso.
Since serving his suspension, Puelo has fought twice, defeating Hector Madera in December 2023 and winning the interim title against Gary Antuan Russell last Saturday.
Haney also criticised Puello's past doping violations, tweeting that he “deserves to be suspended for cheating.”
