Boxer Devin Haney has filed a lawsuit against Leena Sayed, the mother of his young daughter, accusing her of extortion.
Sayed was granted a temporary restraining order against him earlier this summer, alleging the boxer pushed her to the ground while she was pregnant and abused her on multiple occasions over a 16-month period.
Haney, 26, has denied the allegations, and in his lawsuit, he claimed that his ex threatened to damage his reputation and withhold visitation rights unless he increased child support payments. He is seeking unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents.
“Devin Haney has lived his life and built his career with integrity, discipline and respect,” his attorney, Bobby Samini, told TMZ. “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.”
The former WBC 140-pound champion further alleged that Sayed “has repeatedly published false and defamatory statements about” him and described her actions as “extreme and outrageous.”
“I think Mr. Haney would be best served to make his case to the family court,” Sayed’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan told the outlet, “and not the court of social media.”