By Jim Maltzman: Devin Haney wants a total “blowout” in the title defense of his WBC lightweight belt against #10 WBC Yuriorkis Gamboa this Saturday, November 7th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. The fight card will be streamed on DAZN live.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing)
The boxing public perceives the Haney-Gamboa fight as a complete mismatch, and the 21-year-old Haney doesn’t want to let them down. Former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) has other ideas.
The 2004 Olympic gold medalist Gamboa has studied the 5’8″ Haney’s past fights, and he sees weakness that he believes he can exploit.
It won’t be easy, though, as the natural lightweight Haney will be enjoying a two and a half-inch height and six-inch reach advantage over the 5’5 1/2″ Gamboa.
Haney intends on keeping the action on the outside to prevent Gamboa from landing the powerful combinations that he likes to use.
The still green five-year pro admits that he’s facing the toughest test of his career in facing the 38-year-old Gamboa.
Up until now, Haney’s best opponent was little known Alfredo Santiago, who he didn’t look impressive beating last November by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision.
Part of Haney’s problem was he suffered a shoulder injury early. But even before the injury occurred, Haney struggled against Santiago and didn’t look outstanding.
Haney wants a one-sided win over Gamboa
“Gamboa is by far the toughest test of my career on paper,” said Haney to Hearn. “A lot of people are saying it’s going to be a blowout, and that makes me want to go in and prove them right.
“When Devin Haney was in his face, he was really calm,” Haney said about Gamboa. “Right now, I feel good. I don’t see myself moving up right now [to 140] because there are so many fights to be made.
Lomachenko wouldn’t mention Haney’s name
“For a while, I couldn’t even get the guy to say my name,” Haney said about Vasily Lomachenko. “I couldn’t get him to acknowledge me. So do I really care for a Lomachenko fight right now?
“I do I really care to put my energy into Loma? I don’t know. We got to cross that road when we get there, but as of right now, my main focus is on Gamboa first.
“Not at all,” Devin said when asked if he thought Teofimo Lopez would beat Lomachenko. “I think a lot of it was what Loma didn’t do. He didn’t throw punches for seven rounds.
“Phenomenal,” Haney said about Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis win over Leo Santa Cruz. “He went in there, and it was a crazy knockout, but we expected that. I got [Ryan] Garcia [over Luke Campbell].
“It doesn’t matter. I’m ready to go,” Haney said about fighting without a crowd. “I know everybody is going to be watching on TV, so I’m ready to go.”
Haney needs to not try too hard to impress boxing fans by slugging with Gamboa because he doesn’t possess his type of power.
In Haney’s stoppage wins over Zaur Abdullaev and Antonio Moran, he was facing opposition with far less talent and experience compared to Gamboa.
Haney isn’t going to be able to depend on landing the telegraphed shots that he was connecting with against those two fighters, both of which looked like they didn’t belong ranked in the top 15.
Gamboa knows Haney’s weaknesses
“I know what his weaknesses are. I know his highs and lows, and I’d rather not share them,” said Gamboa at the final news conference in talking about Haney.
“I’m not looking past this fight. I’m totally focused on beating Haney this Saturday. I don’t see it as an advantage being the veteran over the younger fighter.
“I’m a person that has different styles and can bring different things to the ring. I can adjust to what’s going on. I have excellent resistance and power. It depends on how the fight goes; that’s what I’m going to do.
“It was really difficult after the Achilles surgery, but with prayer, I was able to overcome that. I’m completely healed now, and I was able to carry on a very good training camp.
“I’m prepared for all types of fights. It depends on what Haney brings. I’m prepared to adjust to whatever Haney brings to the ring.
“I trained in the ring for the different things that can happen with my coach, and depending on what Haney brings, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not happy with this training camp.
“It’s very restrictive in this hotel with all this bubble. You can move in only certain areas, and I’m used to totally different.
“And he has his way of doing this for years and years, and he’s being restricted here right now,” Gamboa said.
The talented Cuban Yuriorkis wasn’t willing to reveal the flaws he’s observed in Haney’s game or discuss what his game plan will be against him.
Gamboa will need to turn the fight into a war for him to have a chance of winning. He can’t stay on the outside against the taller Haney. Otherwise, he’ll be picked apart round by round.
We don’t know if his recently surgically operated torn Achilles tendon has healed and is 100% from after his last fight against Tank Davis.
Bill Haney predicts Devin whoops Yuriorkis
“I expect an a** whopping more impressively with Devin’s athletic ability, his reach, and his mobility in general,” said Bill Haney to Fighthype about his son Devin in picking him to defeat Gamboa easily.
“I expect an overall better performance [than Gervonta Davis put in with his win over Gamboa last December]. Gamboa will always present problems to fighters.
“He’s a veteran, and he’s got a lot of experience in world-class fights against world-class competition. So you can expect to see things that are not more traditional and awkward.
“It’s just another level for Devin to get through and get past, and I expect him to get through in flying colors.
“I think the speed, the length, and the combinations of them will present all the problems in the world for Gamboa to show him that he’s in the ring with someone that he’s never seen before.
“I’m confident Devin will make adjustments when needed.
“I think it was an excellent performance,” Haney said of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ knockout win over Leo Santa Cruz. He’s a smaller fighter, and some of the things that he [Tank] could do with him, he won’t do with Devin.
“Gamboa’s credentials are that of a unified champion and an Olympic gold medalist, and he’s someone that we prepared very diligently. We don’t take him lightly, and we expect to handle the business, and we’ll go from there,” said Bill Haney.
You can see where Haney gets the ideas of his fight with Gamboa being an easy one. It starts with his trainer/dad Bill Haney, who believes this will be an easy street on Saturday.
Hopefully, Haney doesn’t fall apart if he finds himself in a war against Gamboa, as he hasn’t had any of those types of fights yet as a pro.
Given Haney’s lack of experience against quality opposition at the amateur and pro level, we can only guess how he’ll do against Gamboa.
If Haney looks bad in winning or if he loses, it’ll be a good idea for Matchroom Boxing to start him slowly from the ground up before bringing him back against world-class opposition.
Haney might not be ready to face elite-level 135-pounders like Teofimo Lopez, Vasily Lomachenko, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Ryan Garcia, and Luke Campbell.
