UPDATE
3:13 PM PT — Leena Sayed‘s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said in a statement to TMZ Sports on Wednesday, his client is not extorting Devin Haney.
She’s “only seeking to get what the law requires Mr. Haney to pay for child support,” the lawyer said.
He added, “While he made claims he’s defamed by the truthful allegations she’s provided in her statements within the litigation, he should be aware that in the law of defamation truth is a defense.”
“I think Mr. Haney would be best served to make his case to the family court and not the court of social media.”
Devin Haney is suing the mother of his months-old daughter, alleging she’s extorted and defamed him, TMZ Sports has learned.
Court records we obtained show the star boxer filed the lawsuit against Leena Sayed in Los Angeles on Wednesday — just less than two months after she obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order against him.
In the suit, Haney claims that in an effort to get more money from him, Sayed threatened not only “reputational ruin,” but also “loss of rights to visit his daughter.”
He claimed Sayed “has repeatedly published false and defamatory statements about” him too — while calling her actions “extreme and outrageous.”
He’s additionally suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress … and is asking for unspecified damages.
“Devin Haney has lived his life and built his career with integrity, discipline, and respect,” Haney’s attorney, Bobby Samini, told us Wednesday. “He has worked tirelessly to achieve success through dedication, not shortcuts, and he remains committed to conducting himself with honesty and principle inside and outside the ring.”
“Devin will not be extorted, intimidated, or coerced by anyone. He will defend his name, and his values against any false narratives or malicious attempts to undermine his character. Devin Haney stands firm in the truth.”
The suit comes some eight weeks after Sayed alleged in her application for her TRO against Haney that he abused her on multiple occasions throughout the past year and a half.
She claimed one of the worst instances happened in December 2024, when she says he “pushed me while I was nine months pregnant causing me to fall on my tailbone because I would not give him my cell phone.”
