By Chris Williams: Devin Haney is going to “whip” former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa’s backside next month on November 7th, according to trainer/dad Bill Haney. Haney and Gamboa will be battling it out on DAZN at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida.
Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) has been picked out to give the fans a chance to compare WBC lightweight champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) to WBA champ Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who knocked out the 38-year-old Yuriorkis in the 12th round last December.
Scheduling the 21-year-old Haney to face Gamboa with him coming off of an Achilles injury and a stoppage loss to Tank (23-0, 22 KOs) makes it a shallow, superficial comparison. How do you compare Haney with Davis when the variables are different?
The punishment that Gamboa took against Tank was fierce, and the Achilles that the Cuban talent suffered makes things even more of a problem for him. With what Gamboa went through in that fight, he should be taking a tune-up in his next fight rather than facing Haney.
What will Bill say if Devin loses to Gamboa?
It won’t be surprising to Chris Williams if Gamboa knocks out Haney on November 7th because he’s faster and the much bigger puncher.
Gamboa has a far better pedigree than Haney, and on top of that, his physical skills are superior. The Cuban talent was gifted physically and born to fight.
Bill Haney will need to come up with some answers on November 7th if Devin loses this fight against Gamboa because he’s going to be getting grilled by the fans. Bill should have his excuses prepared for that eventuality so that he’s not caught off guard, stammering, and searching for a reason.
Gamboa used as a yardstick for Haney and Tank comparison
“That’s a good question because I got a chance to look at Gamboa, and his last fight was with Tank [Davis],” said trainer/dad Bill Haney to Fighthype when asked how Devin compare to Gervonta in terms of athletic ability.
“I get a chance to look at it in terms of the things that Tank did to Gamboa and also the things that Gamboa did to Tank.
“Fortunately for me, I get a chance to see a fighter that I like, and we like what they’re doing. I took Devin to spar with Tank when he was 15-years-old.
“So we’ve always had respect for Tank and what he’s doing in boxing, but now is a time where they’re on a collision course. We don’t know when it’ll happen and where it’ll happen, but it’s almost certain to happen.
“To get a chance to look at both teams, the Gamboa team, and to look at Davis, it’s just a great time for me,” said Haney.
It’s a joke that Gamboa as a tool to validate Haney as a fighter because the only boxing fans that it’s going to convince are the casuals, who have no clue what happened last December.
If Bill wants to compare Haney to Tank Davis by using his past opponents, he should have selected Jose ‘Sniper’ Pedraza. At least with him, he’s younger and not coming off of an injury a knockout loss.
You hate to say it but Pedraza would give Haney a lot of problems, and likely beat him. If Pedraza was still fighting at 135, he would be the ideal opponent to give a comparison between Haney and Tank Davis.
Bill Haney: Devin Hasn’t lost one round in the pros
“The thing about it is, we want to one-up our last performance [against Alfredo Santiago], so we want our fighter to get better and better and win,” said Haney. “So our main objective is to get the ‘W’ and for Devin to be better than his last performance.
“Devin hasn’t lost a round in pro sports in his boxing career,” Bill said.
Haney looked bad in his previous fight against Alfredo Santiago last November, and that’s a contest where it was plain to see that he’s not in Tank’s league.
A lot of people would beg to differ with Bill about his assertion that Haney hasn’t lost a round as a pro. Santiago appeared to win at least four rounds against Devin last November, although the judges scored it 120-107 x 3. Boxing News 24 had it 116-112 for Haney. He fought well enough to win eight rounds to four over the little known Santiago.
If Haney is already having problems beating fringe-level fighters like Santiago, what does that tell you about his future when he gets inside the ring with real talents like Tank Davis, Teofimo Lopez, and Vasily Lomachenko?
Bill should sit down, have a big cup of coffee and rewatch Haney’s fight with Santiago with his eyes wide open, seeing what is obvious to see.
Haney looked like a fighter that was facing someone that was close to the same level as him talent-wise. Santiago showed the boxing world the level where Haney’s at, and it wasn’t a pretty picture.
What we learned about Haney from the Santiago fight:
- Can’t punch
- Slow hand speed
- Telegraphs his shots
- Slow feet
- Gets flustered when attacked
Haney will give Gamboa a backside whipping
“We look to dominate him [Gamboa] and put on a hellacious a** whipping if that’s what you’re asking me,” Bill continued. “Gamboa is going to get an a** whipping, and he’s going to get an a** whipping to the degree that no other fighter has done.
“There is no other fighter like Devin, and there is no other fighter with the skills that Devin possesses,” continued Haney. “There’s no other fighter that has the worth ethic that Devin possesses.
The ringside angle of @RealDevinHaney‘s vicious KO vs. Moran will never get old. đŸ¤¯ pic.twitter.com/ZsPCrv9QIr
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) October 3, 2020
DAZN won’t stop Devin from taking legacy-defining fights
“So when you hear the comparisons to the Ray Leonard’s, and you hear the comparisons to the Floyd Mayweather’s, well, we’re backing it up with not only that Devin is dominating in a division and not getting hit, but he’s also calling out everyone to fight, and he’s there for it.
“So when we talk about legacy, that was the whole thing that Devin Haney promotions were able to have legacy-defining fights during his legacy.
“His business is straight, and he has a great partnership with Eddie Hearn and DAZN, who has assured us if there’s an opportunity to make a quality fight, a legacy fight, a fight of magnitude, we’re able to make it whether it’s on DAZN’s platform or any other platform.
“For that, that’s what we’ve worked for all these years to be in that position,” said Bill Haney.
It’s understandable why DAZN would want Haney to take the tougher fights because it’s a smart way for them to bring in more subscribers. However, they may not like what the results are when that does happen.
Right now, if you put Haney in with any of the below-listed fighters, he loses.
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Teofimo Lopez
- Gervonta Davis
- Luke Campbell
- Ryan Garcia
- Miguel Berchelt – 130
- Oscar Valdez
- Shakur Stevenson
- Jorge Linares
The real question is about Haney, is he a hype a job? You can make a pretty good argument that Haney is just a fighter that has been heavily hyped by his dad Bill and a handful of people.