Six months after he was universally vilified for running around the ring, Devin Haney runs the welterweight division.

Haney looked confident and strong in his first fight at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He dropped supposedly stronger puncher Brian Norman Jr. in the second round, took the younger knockout artist’s power without incident and re-established himself at the elite level.

A redeemed Haney won their 12-round bout by unanimous decision and became a three-weight world champion. Judges Mike Fitzgerald (114-113), Leszek Jankowiak (116-111) and Gerry Martinez (117-110) all scored Haney the winner of the 12-round co-feature of “The Ring IV: Night of the Champions” card at ANB Arena.

A reinvigorated Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) didn’t at all resemble the overly cautious boxer who was criticized for moving entirely too much throughout an easy but dull decision victory over former junior welterweight champ Jose Ramirez on May 2 at Times Square in New York. Haney held at times Saturday night, particularly during the second half of their bout, but he stayed in front of Norman almost all fight.

“In 2024, I lost everything. Everything came crashing down on me,” Haney told DAZN’s Claudio Trejos in the ring. “In 2025, I came to get it back. In 2026, I’m coming for everything.”

The former undisputed lightweight champ took the WBO welterweight title from Norman (28-1, 22 KOs, 1 NC), who produced perhaps the “Knockout of the Year” in his previous appearance against Japan’s Jin Sasaki. Norman entered their fight ranked No. 1 among The Ring’s welterweight contenders for a vacant championship.

The 27-year-old Haney isn’t ranked by The Ring because his fight with Ramirez was contested at a contracted catch weight of 144 pounds.

Norman, who’ll turn 25 on Sunday, lost a WBO belt he won when he knocked out Giovanni Santillan in the 10th round of their May 2024 bout in San Diego. He bled from his nose for 10-plus rounds and had swelling around his right eye by the time it ended.

“He came out exactly how we planned, so I was able to capitalize,” Haney said. “But after I hurt him and dropped him, he made an adjustment, so then we had to adjust to that as well. But he’s a true champion. He’s definitely better than I expected. I thank him for the opportunity. He gave me the opportunity to become champion again.”

Norman needed a knockout in the 12th round, but those three minutes were marred by holding and a lack of action. Haney hopped up on the ropes to celebrate once the final bell rang

Neither Norman nor Haney landed many flush punches in the 10th or 11th rounds. Norman was the aggressor in those rounds, but he couldn’t connect with the type of shot he needed to hurt Haney and change the complexion of their fight.

A hard left hook by Norman knocked Haney backward and showed he was still dangerous with about a minute on the clock in the ninth round.

Norman’s hard right made Haney hold him barely a minute into the eighth round. Haney’s offensive output slowed in that round, but he defended himself well.

Haney’s left to the side of Norman’s head made the former champion reset his feet approximately 20 seconds into the seventh round.

Norman landed a left to the body and backed Haney into the ropes just before the midway mark of the sixth round. Haney held and then brought the bout back to the center of the ring.

A right hand by Haney landed with about 1:40 on the clock in the fifth round.

Haney worked well off his hard jab during the fourth round. He also made Norman mindful of his left hook in that round.

After getting dropped in the second round, Norman landed a left hook that made Haney retreat and hold with just under two minutes to go in the third round.

A right hand by Haney knocked Norman to one knee with just over 1:20 to go in the second round. Norman beat referee Ricky Gonzalez’s count, but he was clearly hurt.

Bleeding from his nose, Norman held Haney and managed to make it to the bell to end the second round.

Haney landed a check left hook that buckled Norman’s legs a little less than 40 seconds into the second round.

Midway through the first round, Norman attempted the type of left hook Ryan Garcia landed about 40 seconds into his fight with Haney. He just missed with that shot.

Toward the end of the opening round, however, Norman landed a stiff jab that backed up Haney.