By Aragon Garcia: Devin Haney posted some video of him on social media getting pointers from Floyd Mayweather Jr. during the lockdown. WBC lightweight champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) is staying sharp in preparation for when he returns to the ring, possibly this year.
Mayweather is working with Haney, but it’s an impossible task for him to teach him how to throw with more speed. Haney is slower than Mayweather, and he’s not as fast as Teofimo Lopez either. That could be the reason why Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t seem excited about matching him against the unbeaten Teofimo (15-0, 12 KOs).
Haney’s lack of speed and power would out him at a distinct disadvantage against Lopez, and there’s nothing he could do to make up for his failings. All the work that Mayweather is putting in with Haney may prove to be useless because he’s got slow hands and no power.
At least in going up to 140, Teofimo will have a good chance of taking on Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. If Teofimo stays at 135, he’ll have no one else to fight after he battles Lomachenko. As we see now, Teofimo can’t count on Hearn, letting him face Haney.
Haney being called out
He’s already been called out repeatedly by IBF 135-pound champion Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs0, who needs an opponent because WBA/WBC/WBO champion Vasily Lomachenko can’t get into the U.S because of the travel ban. Lopez and Lomachenko would have met his month for the undisputed lightweight championship with all four belts on the line.
Instead, Teofimo is now looking at taking on Haney for his WBC strap, but he’s had no luck. Although Haney has done a lot of talking on social media, his promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t seem all that interested in matching him with Teofimo.
If that fight is going to happen, it’s going to require that Haney put some pressure on Hearn to negotiate it. There’s a good chance that Haney’s next fight will be a stay busy title defense of his WBC strap against one of the bottom feeders in the World Boxing Council’s rankings rather than a risky unification match against the bigger, stronger and faster Teofimo.
Legendary work #TheDream pic.twitter.com/1Hx88CuaAn
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) May 19, 2020
Teofimo NOT ducking Haney
“We tried to make it happen. You know the kid hasn’t won anything,” said Teofimo Sr. to PepTalkUK on Haney. “Any blind man can see that Devin Haney hasn’t been proven. You know what’s weird about this whole situation is they say we ran away from the WBC not to have to fight Devin Haney.
“We were at the #2 spot, and Devin Haney was at the #4 spot. The reason why we moved over to the IBF is that we knew Lomachenko was going to end up fighting the guy that was on top of us. So we decided to go to the IBF so we could beat Lomachenko, which was something that was magnificent as far as Bob Arum to do because he’s a businessman.
“He already knows the business. So he knew that if my son [Teofimo] could win the IBF belt, and Lomachenko beat Campbell and then moved on to fight for the IBF, my son would be in a better position to face Lomachenko and take all the belts.
“Why stay at the WBC and fight for one strap? It doesn’t make any sense. That’s the only reason we moved. We didn’t move to duck Devin Haney in no way,” said Teofimo Sr.
Lopez is doing the hard work pushing the fight with Haney, and that makes it 100% clear to the fan that he’s not ducking the fight. Hearn might be choosing to wait to let the Teofimo vs. Haney fight marinate. If he makes that fight in 2020, it won’t attract nearly as much interest if he waits two or three years.
Haney being called out
“Devin Haney, if you want it, let’s get it right now, continued Teofimo Sr. “My son never ducked anybody, and he’s calling you out and making you look stupid. Let’s make that fight happen. [Richard] Commey was a good champion, and we made it look easy,” said Teofimo about his son’s recent knockout win over Commey.
“If Lomachenko can’t come into the country from Ukraine, then let’s make this fight happen. We got to give the crowds what they want. If they don’t want it with groups, then we can do Devin Haney without a crowd. That’s easy work for us. Let’s make it happen.
“The Haney’s can talk to Eddie Hearn, and let Hearn make the fight [with Teofimo] with Bob Arum. Let’s get together. They’ve done fights before. It’s a dream come true. Let the best man win. I’ve been talking to my manager for the last two weeks, and he said that they had offered the fight to them.
“My son asked for that fight,” said Teofimo Sr. “He said, ‘I’ve been trying to negotiate with Eddie Hearn,’ but he hasn’t called me for a week and a half.’ Now Eddie Hearn is saying he never heard about anything from us, and he’s never heard from our manager.
“So I don’t know who’s lying, but it’s definitely not us because there’s no reason for my manager to lie to us because he’s the one that wants to make that fight happen. It’s all about money, and we’re trying to make this fight happen for our legacy,” said Teofimo Sr.
Lopez Sr. targeting August or July for Haney clash
“I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is we want this fight. We can make this fight at the beginning of August or the end of July,” said Teofimo Sr. on a fight between his son and Haney.
“My son has already been getting ready for the past month, and we’re ready. Trust me, he [Teofimo] is prepared, and you saw what he did to Commey, and he liked Commey.
“The kid that knows about boxing sees how the kid [Teofimo] moves in there. He adapts to any style. We timed Commey and adapted to Commey. My son has never ducked anybody. Everybody is going to fight out, bro. Let’s make the fight happen,” said Teofimo Sr. on a fight between Lopez and Haney.
“I want everybody to get in the ring. Let’s make this fight happen and sign the contract. Everybody is going to get paid well. Everybody wants to see a fight, especially a fight like this,” said Teofimo Sr.
It’s good that Teofimo Sr. is targeting July or August for the fight, but he’s got to make sure that his management broadcasts the negotiations with Hearn. If Hearn doesn’t want the Haney-Lopez fight, which appears to be the case, then Teofimo Sr. needs to let the fans know that Haney’s management doesn’t want it.
It does look bad that Teofimo is calling Haney out, and the only thing he can say is his promoter Hearn was neve contacted by Tefoimo’s management. However, what seems obvious is the lack of interest in this fight by Hearn.
Lopez wants to unify the 135-pound division
“That’s his [Haney] problem. He’s got his family to make sure that he doesn’t mess up with the things he says because he can lose a lot of sponsors doing that,” said Teofimo Sr. on some of Haney’s recent controversial comments.
“We’re in a good position now where even if we don’t fight Devin Haney, we’re still going to have four straps [after Teofimo beats Lomachenko]. Mauricio Sulaiman already told me that we’re going to get that WBC Franchise.
“So my son is going to unify all the belts, but let’s put a little bit more grease in there. Let’s get the WBC [from Haney]. Let’s get five belts. We need to get the WBC belt that Devin Haney got e-mailed from the WBC.
“I already spoke to my manager. We’re in it, and let’s make this fight [Haney vs. Teofimo] happen. The crowd won’t see it. It’ll be televised on pay-per-view. If we make it on pay-per-view, everybody will pay for it if the price is right. The money that we’re going to lose on the people that [won’t] come see the fight; we can do it on the pay-per-view.
“Let’s make it happen. The ‘Takeover.’ You already know nobody is going to beat my son. You’re going to try, but you cannot beat my son. We’re going to make it look easy,” said Teofimo Sr.
With the lack of interest Hearn has shown in letting Haney fight Teofimo, he’ll have to move on and forget about that fight. After Teofimo faces Lomachenko, the smart move would be for him to go up to 140 to face the champions in that division.