By Matt Lieberman: Trainer Mickey Bey says Devin Haney has a secret game plan that he’s confident will lead to him beating Vasily Lomachenko in the future when the two of them face each other.
Bey isn’t willing to state what that secret plan is, unfortunately, but you can guess what the strategy will be watching one of Haney’s typical fights.
WBC lightweight champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) and WBA/WBC/WBO champ Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) are not expected to fight each other anytime soon, and it’s debatable whether they’ll ever compete.
Lomachenko, 32, is facing IBF lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) on October 3. If Loma wins that contest, he’ll be moving down to 130 to go after Shakur Stevenson, Oscar Valdez, Miguel Berchelt, and Jamel Herring.
Unless Lomachenko returns to the 135-lb division one of these days, he won’t ever face Haney. Devin is too big to drain down to 130, and he’ll likely be moving up to 140 in a year or two, maybe sooner.
Bey: Haney more advanced than Ryan Garcia
“Guys like Devin Haney have a huge advantage over a lot of the people,” said Mickey Bey to Fighthype. “His opponents might be good, but Devin got something different from every angle.
“He got a hunger level that’s different. He’s only 21. He’s got everything he needs already. He already made millions on his own, and he’s got everything you can dream of.
“It’s not enough. He wants more. He wants to be great. It’s not just about money with him. I encourage the young crop, and I like Ryan [Garcia].
“He’s a good fighter, but if you take the hype away and the followers on Instagram, him and Devin aren’t in the same league. Hopefully, one day in the future, Ryan will keep elevating, and I hope he does,” Bey said.
What you see is what you get with the 21-year-old Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs), in terms of his fighting style. He’s fought the same way since he was in the amateur ranks, and that’s probably not going to change as he gets older.
Ryan can’t adapt and add new things to his game the way Haney can because he’s too obsessed with using his bread & butter punch, his left hook, to win his fights.
Devin is ready for Lomachenko
“I’m rooting for him to keep winning, so he [Ryan Garcia] and Devin can fight,” Bey continued. “I’ll be a huge fight, but as far as he and Devin being on the same level, they’re on a different stratosphere.
“But I think Teofimo proved himself. He beat a good champion [Richard Commey] and knocked him out. You’ve got guys like Tank [Davis].
“I think him and Devin will be one of the biggest fights in boxing. Devin is ready for him. He’s been waiting to get these fights. Nobody else, I don’t hear them mentioning his name.
“Ryan is the only one that does, but I don’t think it’s real. It’s just to get the crowd excited, and the fans to get excited. But Devin is waiting for someone to sign on the dotted line.
“He was ready to fight Lomachenko. They [WBC] turned him into the Super Champion [Franchise], and that’s not his fault. I like Lomachenko a lot as a fighter, but Devin was ready for it. Devin wants to fight these big fights, but who was going to step up?” said Mickey.
Ryan Garcia is taking on Luke Campbell next in a WBC ordered fight for the interim WBC belt. The winner of that bout will be requested to face Haney. As such, Bey may get his wish for Ryan to meet Haney by early 2021.
King Ryan and Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) could be fighting by September or October. We still don’t know when the two of them will be challenging because Golden Boy still hasn’t completed the negotiations with Matchroom Boxing.
Fighters intimidated by Haney
“I think the guys are intimidated to lose to a 21-year-old,” said Bey on top fighters not wanting to face Haney. “People forget that. Devin just turned 21.
“I tell you this. They’d better fight him now because he’s getting better and better. He’s got three times better since his last fight [against Alfredo Santiago].
“I’m on the other end of it, so I know. So when dudes say, ‘Can he punch?’ We’ll see. I’m the one that’s feeling it on my shoulders and hands, so we’ll see the next time he fights.
“Training him, feeling it, and the improvements that he’s made every two weeks since we’ve been working, it’s ridiculous. He’s going to a different planet with the boxing,” Bey said.
Bey doesn’t say which fighters are specifically afraid to face Haney. WBA champion Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, Campbell, Javier Fortuna, and Teofimo Lopez are all interested in meeting Haney.
Perhaps Bey is talking about some of the lower-ranked contenders in the 135-lb division that might be afraid of Haney because the top guys are not ducking him.
Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell is 50-50 fight
“I don’t know,” said Bey when asked if Ryan Garcia will beat Luke Campbell. It’s 50-50. I give Ryan [Luke] the edge just because of the experience, but Ryan is explosive and dangerous.
“He’s got the speed and reflexes, but IQ and experience-wise, I give the edge to Luke. I would love to see the fight. I’d give him his props if he takes the match.
“I’m not just saying this to be biased, but believe me, he’s got everything,” said Bey about Haney. “He’s got it mentally. There’s no stage that’s too big for him,” said Bey.
Ryan is viewed as an underdog against Campbell right now in the eyes of the masses, and that’s not going to change. The lack of experience for Ryan makes him a longshot to beat Luke.
If Ryan had more facets to his game, then he would be given a good shot, but he’s a little one-dimensional. Above all, Ryan does have a puncher’s chance, and the youth to possibly win.
Devin will surprise Loma
“He’s one of those guys that if they fought, he’s going to step up to the plate and surprise Lomachenko to where Lomachenko is surprised what he got,” said Bey. “We already know what Lomachenko got, and he’s got a lot.
“The thing is, people don’t understand everything that Devin has, but he hasn’t been able to show it. Since he last fought, he’s got a lot better. I’m not going to tell the game plan.
“You do have the secret society stuff. It’ll work for sure. It’ll work 100%, but he can match him and beat him at everything. The only thing I give Lomachenko over him is experience.
“But there’s stuff that Devin’s got to where they’ll both do well, but Devin can do it better. I tested it out and worked on stuff, and I see it. That’s when I was comfortable.
“I was, ‘Okay, he can fight him and beat him.’ In the beginning, I was like, ‘Let me see for himself now that I’m training him.’ When I trained him, he can beat Lomachenko hands down,” said Haney.
Devin needs more than one game plan for him to beat a fighter as good as Lomachenko. He can’t go into this fight with just a Plan-A and nothing else, given that Lomachenko will adapt to whatever he’s doing.
So, for example, if Haney’s game plan is to keep it long from the outside, Lomachenko will still get to him by launching quick attacks.
Bey hinting on how Haney will battle Lomachenko
“Devin is long. He’s got a lot of advantages,” said Haney. “I’m not going to tell it on camera because he’s got a smart camp. Lomachenko, he’s an intelligent fighter.
“But the advantages that I know he got, it’s going to be something different that he never saw. I like Teofimo a lot, but I give Lomachenko the edge.
“He’s [Teofimo] has got a puncher’s chance, but it’s hard to hit Lomachenko clean. You’ve got to have something different, and some of the secrets that Devin has arrived, he’s going to land on him.
“You can’t just load up on one or two shots and expect to catch. If you hit Lomachenko with one of them, it’s going to be hard to land again.
“You’ve got to have a lot more, but at the same time, he is a younger, hungrier guy. So if he does hurt him as Linares hurt him, I think that happens, I believe Teo can probably finish him. But I don’t see it happening.
“I see Lomachenko winning a decision, but if Teofimo comes on the right night and do the right things, he can pull an upset off. But if I had to pick, I’d say Lomachenko because of the experience,” said Bey.
The only strategy that has worked against Lomachenko was the body attack that Orlando Salido used against him in 2014.
It worked for Salido because he’s a great body puncher, and he had the chin and the experience to pressure Loma hard. Haney lacks the power and the inside fighting ability that Salido possesses.
Devin vs. Tank Davis = a considerable fightÂ
“To me, this is the fight that everybody should be talking about,” said Bey on a future clash between Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Haney. “That would be huge.
“That would be a fight where a lot of guys would say that Tank is going to win, and that’s the type of matches you need. You shouldn’t know automatically who is going to succeed where 89% of the people know.
“Of course, I know that Devin will win because I work with him, but if anybody is going to pick Tank, I could see why from the outside. The Tank has got a lot.
“He’s got power, and he’s explosive. But Devin has got conditioning and long, and he’s got speed, power, and conditioning and focus outside of the ring 24/7,” Bey added.
If Haney wants to fight Gervonta, he’s going to need to do it soon before he eats his way out of the 135-lb division.
Tank’s recent sparring session with welterweight Ivan Redkach showed that he has the power and the size to compete against more prominent fighters than himself. What that means is Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) could soon be moving up to 140 to campaign in that weight class.
Of course, you’d like to see Tank fight at least a couple of the big mass in the lightweight division before he moves up, but that may not happen.
Haney ready to fight right away
“Devin could fight next week,” said Bey. “The question is, I like Tank and his team, but can Tank fight in two weeks or three weeks? Will he be ready?
“How much weight would he have to lose? Devin is ready. He could fight in two weeks. He’s not way overweight. Devin could jump out of his sleep and get in the ring and do 10, 12 rounds, and look, and you wouldn’t even know it.
“And I’m saying that because he’s done that to where he was in bed, and I came over his house and said, ‘Let’s work,’ and he’d get out of his bed and that would be his sharpest day.
“So I’m like, ‘Damn, this dude is just a freak.’ So, to me, that’s the difference. His focus out of the ring” said Bey.
Haney is one of those rare fighters that stays in the gym year-round, working on his craft. Unfortunately, most fighters tend to take it easy and not train after they win world titles, and start making money. That hasn’t happened to Haney yet.