Devin Haney is dangerous – says Shawn Porter

By Boxing News - 09/13/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Shawn Porter believes that WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney is a “dangerous” fighter because of his boxing skills. Unlike some of the fanatical fans, Porter doesn’t compare Haney to Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Roy Jones Jr.

He sees Haney as a unique fighter with a blend of boxing skills that he believes makes him dangerous.

Thus far, Haney hasn’t shown himself to be dangerous other than to the no-name fighters that he’s mostly been facing during his career.

Porter believes that the 22-year-old Haney’s punching power will improve over time, making him even more ‘dangerous’ than he is now. Right now, Haney is dangerous to himself because he does not impress fans, and his opposition has been too lackluster to increase his popularity.

Haney and his promoter Eddie Hearn believe he’s being avoided by the best fighters at 135 like Ryan Garcia. The reality is, the money isn’t there for Haney because he’s not a big name. He’s a belt-holder who was made the WBC champion outside of the ring.

Porter praising Haney’s progress

“He [Haney] and his dad have made all the right movements up to this point,” said Shawn Porter to Fighthype about his view that Devin is making the right moves with his career.

Image: Devin Haney is dangerous - says Shawn Porter

“Even in his last fight against Jorge Linares, he handled everything. He got caught with a punch that came out of nowhere. I’m in my house, jaw dropped. ‘Don’t’ do this.’

“I didn’t want to see him lose that fight. I wanted to see him face some adversity, but I didn’t want to see him lose that fight.

“The fact that he faced that adversity and made it through it makes him a better fighter. I don’t know if he’s been avoided.

“I don’t know if it’s the right fights aren’t happening, but I do know he and his dad have made the right movement to this point.

“So when they’re taking on a guy like Maxi Hughes, it means something. They haven’t wasted anything at this point,” said Porter about Haney.

“They haven’t wasted time, they haven’t wasted experience, and they haven’t wasted any of their TV time. I feel like they’re handling everything accordingly. So I think they’ll be fine,” said Porter.

The way that Haney is being moved up the career ladder is disappointing because he’s not fighting guys that are in their prime.  For example, Haney’s recent fights were against 36-year-old Jorge Linares and 40-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa.

If Haney can’t get fights against the big dogs at 135, he should fight these guys:

  • Richard Commey
  • Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
  • Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
  • Jose Pedraza
  • Jose Zepeda

Instead of fighting them, Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn is looking to match him against Maxi Hughes, a fringe contender from the UK. That fight is another safe one for Haney, and it won’t increase his popularity.

Fights like that are keeping Haney from becoming popular, meaning that he’ll continue to be ignored by the popular fighters because he brings nothing to the table. Haney is a belt-holder and nothing else.

If Hearn had his eyes open, he’d realize that he’s got to start matching Haney quality fighters so that his popularity will increase.

If Haney can’t get guys like Ryan Garcia, Vasily Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez, or Gervonta Davis to fight him, he needs to get a clue and start fighting opposition with a pulse.

Fighting old-timers and no names won’t do anything for Haney other than keeping him right where he’s at as a paper champion.

Haney is dangerous, says Porter

“He’s dangerous because he’s got this combinations,” said Porter about his view that Haney is a dangerous puncher.

“Just like Roy Jones Jr. had the combination of speed, athleticism, quickness and reflexes that were outmatched.

“I’m not saying that Devin Haney is the next Roy Jones or is Roy Jones. For a long time, people were saying he’s the next Mayweather.

“He’s the next Devin Haney. Devin Haney is dangerous because he can fight you off the back foot, but he can come at you at the same time. He’s rangy, he’s got speed, and intellectually, he’s right there.

“He’s the complete package as a fighter. Maybe if anything, he’s lacking power. At the same time, it’s only a matter of time before that kicks in as well,” said Porter about Haney.

Porter is getting a little carried away with lavish compliments that he’s bestowing upon Haney. He’s NOT dangerous. If anything, Haney is the opposite of dangerous. He’s boring, and he’s someone that will stall out a fight if he gets hurt by excessively clinching.

If you’re Haney’s opponent, it’s dangerous for your record because all he needs to do is put together a small lead in the first half and then milk it by clinching nonstop in the second half.

Devin is not popular enough yet

“He’s still a young man,” Porter continued about Devin. “When we talk about him being avoided, and we talk about the names we just said. [Ryan] Garcia and [Joseph ‘Jo Jo’] Diaz, when you take a look at that.

Those guys are going to make more money fighting each other than they will Devin Haney. Even though we may not get a fight that we want, we still got to figure a way to understand it, and one way to understand it is economically.

“Those guys are doing what makes sense for them from a financial perspective,” said Porter in sounding like a cheerleader for Haney.

If Haney wants to get the more popular fighters like Ryan Garcia, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Teofimo Lopez, and Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr. to fight him, he’s going to need to take risks by fighting guys at 130, 140, and 147 to become more marketable.

The above-mentioned fighters aren’t interested in fighting Haney because he’s more trouble than he’s worth. Since there’s no money in fighting Haney, these guys don’t take the risk of fighting him for pennies.

Moreover, Haney’s fighting style is a slow version of Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he’s too defensively focused for him to be worth fighting. The top guys aren’t going to want to chase Haney around the ring.

If you saw Haney’s last fight against Jorge Linares, you’ll have noticed that he spent the last four rounds clinching like mad to get through the contest without being knocked out. In the last four rounds, Linares repeatedly hurt Haney, and he was holding on for dear life.

No one wants to fight a clincher like Haney. If you saw how much holding Haney did against Linares, you’re not going to want to fight him because you would need the jaws of life to pry him off of you.

The referee that worked the Haney vs. Linares fight let  Devin get away with murder with his excessive clinching in the last quarter of the contest.

Haney should have been penalized repeatedly for his excessive clinching and disqualified because he was holding too much and aging the system.

If this was basketball, Haney went into an illegal stall, and the referee let him get away with it. To say that Linares was robbed of a  victory is an understatement. Haney should have either been disqualified or penalized repeatedly for his excessive clinching.

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