By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney are still working out during the lull in action from the lockdown. On Thursday, Haney posted a clip of him and Mayweather working out on the mitts.
On the surface, Haney is getting a lot of attention from the boxing world with his workouts with Mayweather, but that might be the only thing he gets out of it. Hitting the mitts with Mayweather isn’t going to help Haney when he gets inside the ring with Tank Davis or the other lions at 135.
Mayweather is shining Haney up, but all that work isn’t going to improve his nonexistent punching power and his slow hands. Haney isn’t fast, and he lacks the power that he needs to compete against guys like Tank Davis.
It’s going to take a heck of a lot more than mitt work for the light-hitting, slow-punching Haney to get to the same level as the talented 135-pounders like Gervonta Davis, Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Those guys are the ones that are loaded with ability.
Is Mayweather training the wrong guy?
The 43-year-old boxing great Mayweather is looking to pass on some of his knowledge to the young 21-year-old Haney (24-0, 15 Kos) to take his game to the next level. However, even with all the training that Mayweather is doing, it probably won’t help Haney beat the wrecking machine Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
The guy that Mayweather should be training is Tank. He’s not only signed with Mayweather’s promotional company, but he’s the one with the talent.
That guy is on another level than Haney right now, and Mayweather’s mitt is superficial photo-op stuff that won’t improve his chances when he gets in there with Tank. It looks like an empty gesture.
Some boxing fans believe that Mayweather is courting Haney to bring him over to Mayweather Promotions once his contract with Matchroom Boxing runs out. Why Haney would want to go over to Mayweather Promotions is the big question?
They haven’t put Tank Davis in with any the talented fighters in the 130 or 135-pound division. Sadly, the fighter Mayweather Promotions is looking to match Tank with next is Leo Santa Cruz, a fading guy that competes at super-featherweight.
Tank no longer fights at 130, and it’s doubtful that he can even make weight for that division. Santa Cruz isn’t the fighter that the boxing fans want Tank Davis to face. That’s a fight that fans might have wanted to see five years ago, but NOT now.
Fans want to see Gervonta face these guys:
- Ryan Garcia
- Teofimo Lopez
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Devin Haney
Having Mayweather coach Haney might not do anything for him because he’s not going to be able to stand in the pocket against the talented guys at 135. They have too many weapons for Haney to deal with, and he has nothing to offer.
We saw that in Devin’s last fight against Alfredo Santiago last November. Haney was getting hurt by Santiago, who is nowhere near the top guys in the lightweight division in terms of talent. Santiago exposed Haney, showing his limits as a fighter.
One of the criticisms that Devin Haney has from boxing fans is that he’s a two-time e-mail champion. The World Boxing Council elevated Haney to his current WBC lightweight champion status without him having to earn the belt by beating anyone.
Haney beat the little known Zaur Abdullaev to win the interim WBC 135-lb title last September. Shortly after that, the WBC elevated Haney to their full lightweight champion after they gave Lomachenko the Franchise tag. By doing this, the WBC may have saved Haney from suffering his first career loss.
Had Haney fought Lomachenko for the WBC title, he would have been out of his league against him. Let’s face it; Lomachenko is a much better fighter than Haney, and it would have been a mismatch if the two had fought.