By Matt Lieberman: WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney is in what is being characterized as advanced talks with Jorge Linares for a fight in May on DAZN. Chris Mannix reports the news of the negotiations between Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) and #3 WBC Linares (47-5, 29 KOs).
Linares, 35, is a slight step up from Haney’s last opponent, 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa. It appears that Matchroom Boxing is picking out older lions that the fans are familiar with to help Haney learn and pick up popularity without risking taking a loss.
Linares has been beaten a couple of times in his last five fights in defeats by Pablo Cesar Cano and Vasily Lomachenko.
He’s still plenty fast and dangerous for a fighter as old as he is, but he might be too old to defeat the 22-year-old Haney.
For Matchroom to be picking Linares, they must feel confident Haney can beat him.
Was Haney using Lomachenko to clout chase?
The fight will be taking place in May. It’s unknown what happened with a fight between Haney and former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko.
Earlier this week, Haney called out #1 WBC Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs), saying that he would be free to fight him in late April or early May.
Now it appears that Haney was never serious and was just name-dropping and clout-chasing by calling out Lomachenko to get attention from the media and boxing public.
Lomachenko has to be disappointed now that it’s clear that Haney is going in a different direction because he toyed with him, giving him hope that he would give him a title shot.
This is what Haney said on Twitter today to explain why he’s NOT fighting Lomachenko:
“This is correct. [Top Rank promoter] Bob [Arum] won’t give me Loma, so I’ll settle for Linares… for now.”
It’s interesting what Haney says in blaming it on Arum for the fight with Lomachenko not happening because this week, the Top Rank promoter said he would make that fight in a heartbeat.
The way Arum was talking, he seemed exciting about it. However, he did say that it’s a fight that could happen when Haney’s contract is up with Matchroom, and it’s unclear if it’s about to expire in April or May.
Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) and @JorgeLinares are in advanced discussions for a 135-pound title fight, sources told @SInow. Representatives are targeting a May date for Haney, a lightweight titleholder, and Linares, a former three-division world champion.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) March 4, 2021