By Jeff Aronow: Devin Haney will be taking on the biggest test of his six-year professional career this Saturday when he defends his WBC lightweight title against former three-division world champion Jorge Linares in the main event on DAZN.
The fight will be taking place at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Welterweight contender Conor Benn is predicting that someone is going to be hitting the deck on Saturday in the Haney vs. Linares fight, and he’s not sure who it will be.
Benn believes there’s a chance that the 35-year-old Linares will cause an upset by dethroning Haney, who is totally inexperienced. You couldn’t call it a true upset if Linares wins, as he’s the more accomplished fighter of the two.
Additionally, Linares has the better hand speed, power, and experience.
Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) hasn’t fought anyone near the level of the #4 WBC ranked Linares (47-5, 29 KOs), which makes this fight a difficult one to predict.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping that Haney, 22, can get through this fight without suffering his first defeat, as he has hopes of turning him into a star.
What the fans have seen of Haney thus far suggests that he lacks the punching power, hand speed, and an exciting fighting style for him to become a superstar.
Linares can win says Conor Benn
Although Haney has been compared to Floyd Mayweather Jr as far as his technical boxing skills go, he’s comparable to the older version in his 40s, not the younger one that had speed and was knocking everyone out at super featherweight 20+ years ago.
“Linares, he can cause an upset,” said Conor Benn to Matchroom Boxing on this Saturday’s Haney-Linares clash on DAZN. “He’s a skillful fighter, he can bang, and he’s fought the likes of Loma, and obviously Luke Campbell.
“He fought Kevin Mitchell, my old stablemate that I used to train with. He’s [Linares] always in a cracking fight, and Haney, he’s an animal himself,” said Benn.
It’s quite obvious that Linares has the experience, power, speed, and overall boxing ability to win this fight. The only question is will Linares’ chin hold up for 12 rounds?
Linares has only lost by knockouts in his five career defeats, and he’s been stopped by non-punchers before. Haney doesn’t possess much pop in his shots, and that could give Linares a great chance of winning this fight. He’s already got the advantage of speed and power over Haney.
In Haney’s last two fights against Yuriorkis Gamboa and Alfredo Santiago, he underwhelmed in winning a pair of dull 12 round unanimous decisions. He could not hurt either of those fighters, and he was forced to go the full 12 round distance to get the victories.
In contrast, Linares spectacular in stopping Carlos Morales in the
Someone is going down
“It’s that crossover of the four-time world champion [Linares], and the up-and-comer [Haney],” Benn continued. “I can’t say up-and-comer because he’s already there, but in terms of where he wants to be, he’s got to beat the likes of Linares comfortably.
“Then it’s that crossover where I’m calling out [Amir] Khan. Is it too soon? Is it the right time [for Haney]? We’ll soon find out, but it’s going to be an entertaining fight that’s for sure.
“Someone will be going down in that fight, so I’m not going to sit on the fence,” said Benn.
Linares will likely score a knockdown if there’s going to be one in this fight. Haney’s punches are too weak for him to put Linares down unless perhaps he hits him with a body shot. However, Haney has never been considered a body puncher, so it’s unlikely he’ll drop Linares.