Devin Haney wants Teofimo Lopez after Linares fight on May 29th

By Boxing News - 05/17/2021 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Trainer Bill Haney says that his son Devin Haney wants to fight Teofimo Lopez next provided that both guys win their interim matches against Jorge Linares and George Kambosos Jr first.

Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) will be defending his WBC ‘regular’ lightweight title against Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) in the main event on May 29th on a DAZN streamed show at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 22-year-old Devin is considered the favorite to defeat the 35-year-old former three-division world champion Linares.

After that, if IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO 135-lb champion Teofimo (16-0, 12 KOs) beats Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) on June 19th in their Triller pay-per-view card in Miami, Florida, it would set up a fight between him and Haney.

Haney hoping Teofimo leave 135-lb division

Teofimo seems to be more interested in taking on the winner of this Saturday’s undisputed 140-lb championship between Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez if possible.

We’ll have to see if Teofimo is willing to take a detour first to face Haney so that he can rightfully call himself the undisputed lightweight champion. Although Teofimo and his dad Teofimo Sr have been saying that they’re the undisputed lightweight champion, that’s not the truth.

Image: Devin Haney wants Teofimo Lopez after Linares fight on May 29th

Teofimo is a unified three-belt champion, and he only needs the WBC title for him to become the undisputed champ. It would be a shame if Teofimo vacates his three titles without getting the chance to become the undisputed champion by facing Haney.

“Devin wants to unify all the titles, so we’ll be waiting to see what Teofimo does with Kambosos [on June 19th] and hope he doesn’t go to 140 lbs route,” said Bill Haney to Boxing Social.

“We’re interested in making the fight next, but, of course, we have this business to attend to on the 29th and then we’ll be available for Teofimo Lopez.

“What you’re not getting is a good understanding that he wants him after Kambosos.

“You are getting a clear understanding that he is going to beat Kambosos, but it became uncertain when it came to him wanting to fight Devin next. So I think that’s a calculated confusion.

“It’s going to be a good fight. Kambosos will bring his game but, of course, I favor Teofimo Lopez in that fight, but it’s going to be entertaining for sure,” said Bill Haney.

It looks like Teofimo will go in the direction of the winner of the Josh Taylor vs. Jose Ramirez fight if he gets past Kambosos Jr on June 19th.

There’s more to gain for Teofimo by facing the Taylor-Raminer winner than battling Haney, who hasn’t made a name for himself yet. Taylor is popular in the UK and Ramirez on the West Coast of the U.S.

No interest in WBC Franchise title

“We’re not interested in the Franchise designation at all,” said Bill Haney when asked if Devin would be interested in taking Teofimo’s Franchise belt if that fight happened with him.

“What you do know about the WBC title is we have mandatory’s, and we’re here and available for whoever and that includes Teofimo Lopez.

Image: Devin Haney wants Teofimo Lopez after Linares fight on May 29th

“It wasn’t three to five years ago when he sat one of the pound-for-pound greats of the sport [Vasily Lomachenko], he sat him down on his bottom and that wasn’t three or four years ago,” said Bill when told that Linares has faded in the last three to five years and isn’t the same fighter now.

“When we talk about Jorge Linares, he’s a heck of a fighter. He’s had few losses, but he’s had a whole lot of wins. The only time he’s ever lost was by stoppage,” Bill said of Linares.

It was three years ago that Linares dropped Lomachenko in 2018, so there has been some time that has gone by since that fight.

The only bad performance by Linares since then was when he went up to 140 in an ill-advised move and was stopped in the first round by fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano in January 2019.

Linares has since moved back down to 135 and won his last two fights against Al Toyogon and Carlos Morales. He looked excellent in both fights, and his power and speed appeared at the top level.

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