Devin Haney: I’m the BEST lightweight in the world; I’m returning soon

By Boxing News - 02/04/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: WBC lightweight ‘Champion in Recess’ Devin Haney took to social media on Tuesday to label himself as the “best lightweight” on the planet, and he says he’s going to be returning to the ring soon.

The fact that Haney chose to toot his own horn by calling himself the “best lightweight on the planet” appears to be a knee jerk reaction in response to Vasiliy Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum, who said this week there are 10 lightweights better than him.

“I look at Devin Haney, and maybe there are 10 lightweights better than he is,” said Arum to Fighthub. “Gervonta Davis, who I think is more advanced than Haney, and probably a more exciting fighter.”

Ouch, that’s got to hurt Devin to hear Arum saying that stuff about him. Right now, Haney doesn’t have the experience that GervontaTank’ Davis or Lomachenko possess for him to refute the things Arum is saying.

The Top Rank boss is letting Haney know he’s an unproven newbee, and there’s not much he can do about that other than to show Arum.

Haney out with shoulder injury

The 22-year-old Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) out of commission right now with a shoulder problem that he suffered in his last fight against the tougher than expected Alfredo Santiago (12-1, 4 KOs) in their fight on November 9 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Haney got injured early on in the fight, but he toughed it out and was able to win one-sided 12 round decision by the scores 120-107, 120-107, 120-107.

When Haney does come back, he’s expected to fight for his old WBC lightweight title against the winner of the Javier Fortuna vs. Luke Campbell. Those two will be fighting soon for the vacant WBC lightweight belt that the World Boxing Council stripped from Haney after his injury.

It’s kind of sad the way that the WBC moved so swiftly to strip Haney of his lightweight title after he was injured. On the positive side, the WBC gave Haney the WBC ‘Champion in Recess’ tag, which means he can challenge for his old title anytime he wishes.

It’s not a big deal really, because Campbell and/or Fortuna are fighters that Haney would likely be fighting anyway. While Haney would be overjoyed if he were given the opportunity to fight Lomachenko, Tank Davis, Teofimo Lopez or Ryan Garcia, those fights don’t have a realistic chance of happening.

Devin has a lot of tough fights ahead of him

To prove that he’s the best fighter in the lightweight division, Haney is going to need to beat the aforementioned fighters Teofimo, Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia and Tank Davis.

With the way things are now, Haney might not ever get a chance to fight Teofimo or Lomachenko, because Arum seems to be sour on the idea of him getting those fights.

Tank Davis is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, and they’ve not said anything about wanting to match him against Haney. I think they’re looking for lower hanging fruit in Leo Santa Cruz, and whoever else after they get past him.

Haney has already said that he’s not going to stay at 135, and force himself to drain down to make weight if he can’t get the big names to fight him.

So what he’ll likely be doing soon is moving up to 140 to go after the belts in that division, which is about to empty out. Josh Taylor will likely move up to 147 in 2021, and Jose Ramirez could follow him. At 140, Haney’s best bet might be Regis Prograis.