By Dan Ambrose: Devin Haney wants to start negotiating a fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis as soon as he gets done with his next contest against Leo Santa Cruz on October 24.
WBC lightweight champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) believes that a match between him and WBA ‘regular’ 135-pound champion Tank Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) is the biggest fight in boxing right now, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to get it made.
The immediate concern is for Tank, 25, to win his next fight against the always tough Leo Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KO) on October 24. Tank and Leo are fighting on Showtime pay-per-view at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Tank is the favorite to win, but he might have problems because he needs to drain down to 130. Gervonta can probably make the weight, but he’ll likely be depleted. If Davis loses to Leo, then Haney can forget about fighting him because the interest from the fans won’t be there.
Haney vs. Tank Davis is the biggest fight possible
“I feel like that’s the biggest fight that can be made,” said Haney to Fighthype on fighting Gervonta Davis. “Not just in boxing, but I feel the streets want to see the fight. Everyone wants to see that fight.
“That fight has been boiling for so long. I feel that’s the biggest fight right now. It’s where people are going to be betting on the match, and it’s going to be an event for sure when it happens. I just think it’s in due time.
“Whenever it happens, that’s the fight that I want. I’m sure he [Tank Davis] wants the match as well. I’m willing to start negotiating as soon as possible, even though I know he’s still got to fight whenever the time is present.
“There are so many big fights in the lightweight division. And there are so many different ways you can go. There are all big fights. That [Tank Davis] might be the biggest fight, yes. I want all of them.
“Anyone I can get because they’re all big, and they all make sense. There’s definitely history, but it’s boxing, you know? It was never no bad blood [with Gervonta]. It became like more out of the ring than in the ring.
“There’s so much history. Most people would never understand that. It’s not for them to understand,” continued Haney.
It would be a massive fight between Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis if it could take place this year. Right now, boxing fans have been watching the mismatches from Top Rank’s shows on ESPN, and those have been low-level fights. Fans would love to see Davis and Devin fight on pay-per-view, as that would be a tremendous match-up.
Devin confident Davis fight happens
“I know that if it makes dollars and sense, then we can make it happen,” said Haney on a fight between him and Tank Davis. “There’s so much money in that fight that we can come to an agreement and make it happen.
“Just like any other big fight. You get two different promoters that work together to make it happen. We got to see it. Hopefully, we can make it happen soon if we come to an agreement.
“Be victorious, and I wish him luck in his next fight [against Leo Santa Cruz], and maybe we can do it after that. We don’t know. When the time comes, I’ll be more excited too,” said Haney on a clash against Tank Davis.
The money that can be made in a Haney-Davis fight is what gives it a good chance of taking place. If not for that, then Haney wouldn’t stand a chance of getting a shot at Davis.
Gervonta’s promoters at Mayweather Promotions have been arguably guarding him like he was a prize hen, and haven’t shown a desire to match him tough. The fact that Haney is only 21 will put Mayweather Promotions in a tight spot if they choose to ignore his challenge of Tank.
The networks at DAZN and Showtime would likely be agreeable to putting on the Haney-Davis fight because the chances of it doing well would be high. Also, it’s a clash that is more of a 50-50 affair, and those are matches that tend to do quite well on pay-per-view.
It’ll be exciting to see if Haney can branch over to pay-per-view permanently with a win over Tank Davis. This is the type of match-up that can take Devin’s career to the next level.
Haney got the better of Gervonta in sparring
“The first time? Longer than that,” said Haney when asked what was the last time he sparred Gervonta Davis. “We worked twice. You know why,” Haney said when talking about the ‘famous’ spar he had with Gervonta.
“It was good work. There were a lot of people there [Mayweather Boxing Gym in Las Vegas]. It was like a fight, like an event. People that were there can tell you about it. Ellie has a tape, and he’s not going to release it for whatever reason.
“We know the reason. 20-something,” said Haney when asked how old Tank Davis was when he sparred him at the Mayweather Gym. “I was 16. It was right before I went pro. I was training to go pro.
“In the beginning, it was competitive. It was never one-sided in the beginning. Towards the end, I started to take over, and I began to dominate. It was doghouse work to fight until whoever quit, and I didn’t quit.
“They tend to forget some of the key points. I was with Floyd [Mayweather], and it was right before Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter fight. I guess AB was telling Floyd about Tank, and I happened to be with Floyd,” Devin said.
By the way that Devin describes the sparring story, it sounds a lot like Davis’ recent sparring with Ivan Redkach. They were supposed to spar for six rounds, but David bailed after four. Redkach says Tank Davis was tired, and couldn’t stick it out for the full 12.
It’s too bad Ellie Sechback hasn’t released the video of the Davis vs. Haney sparring. For Ellie to be holding onto it all this time, it makes you wonder if he was asked not to post it.
Devin continues sparring story with Tank
“So Floyd caught him and said, ‘I got my guy. Do you got your guy?’ And he was like, ‘I got my guy [Tank Davis].’ So they set up some sparring. Whatever time they set up the sparring, they said, ‘Be at the gym at this time.’ I literally went from there.
“I had my regular clothes on, and I went to the gym from there. Then my dad had to run to the house to get my clothes and my gear. It went from there. We were already working with each other at the time,” said Haney on Floyd Mayweather Sr.
“He was already big on me. Before that, he had already said that I would beat [Adrien] Broner a couple of years back, so he was always big on me. But it was fresh at that time when he was asked bout Tank, and Tank started buzzing. That’s just how it played out,” Devin said.
If Haney can take Davis’ scalp, it would be a massive win, and from there, he could use his cache as leverage to finally get Vasily Lomachenko to fight him.
If Lomachenko stays at 135, he’d have to face Haney after he beats Davis. Choosing not to fight Haney would make Lomachenko look like he’s ducking him.