By Charles Brun: In a big surprise, Ben Davison is now training Devin Haney for the May 29th defense of his WBC lightweight belt against Jorge Linares in their headliner at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The two met up at the gym and hit it off, and now it’s Davison’s job to lose. Whether he can keep the spot is the big question.
It’s unclear is this going to be a permanent gig for the former Tyson Fury trainer Davison or a temporary one.
You have to believe that if Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) suffers a hiccup against the former three-division world champion Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) on May 29th, Davison could be given the bums rush out the door with a big broom.
Someone will obviously have to be the scapegoat for Haney’s loss, and the new addition, Davison, would be the perfect fall guy to given the blame.
The reality is, though, that Haney, 22, will have problems beating Linares no matter who trains him. You can bring back any of the great trainers of the past and stick them in Haney’s corner for the Linares fight, and there would be no guarantees that he’ll come out the winner.
Haney is a good fighter, but he lacks punching power, speed and he’s incredibly boring to watch.
Davison talks about how he got the Haney job
“He contacted me about possibly working together, so we linked up and we’re working for the Linares fight,” said Davison to iFL TV.
We haven’t had that discussion,” Davison said when asked if this will be a ‘one-off’ or a permanent situation with Haney.
“He’s an intelligent fighter and I’d like to think I’m an intelligent coach. I had a discussion before and we gelled well.
“Linares is a tough competitor and a top-quality fighter. There is no focus on, ‘What’s next?’ The focus is fully on May 29th,” said Davison in making it clear that his gig with Haney is uncertain.
Hopefully, for Haney’s sake, he’s not expecting a miracle from Davison. I mean, a trainer can only do so much for a fighter with many built-in limitations.
Ben Davison is excellent training, but he’s not going to be able to transform Haney into a fighter that he’s not inherently designed to be. In other words, Davison is not going to turn Haney into Floyd Mayweather Jr with the wave of his hand.
Davison will have to come up with a real gem of a game plan for Haney to win this fight against the 35-year-old Linares because he doesn’t match up in the speed or power departments.
Haney obviously has age working in his favor, but it doesn’t matter. He totally lacks experience compared to Linares.
