By Sean Jones: Devin Haney will walk through undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. said the well-beaten Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. last Saturday night following his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss against the WBC 135-lb champion.
Fighting in front of a demanding crowd last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada, the undefeated Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) showed that he’s the class of the lightweight division with a masterful 12 round unanimous decision win over the former IBF super featherweight champion Jojo Diaz Jr. (32-2-1, 15 KOs).
Haney will be too much for Kambosos
Jojo feels that Haney’s talent would be too much for Kambosos, and he’d walk through him without any problems. That’s the fight that Haney and his eager promoter Eddie Hearn have been clamoring for.
Kambosos Jr (20-0, 10 KOs) could be next for Haney in the first half of next year, depending on the Australian and his promoter Lou DiBella’s decision.
For U.S boxing fans, they’d likely prefer to see Haney fight Gervonta Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, or Ryan Garcia. Still, Devin and Hearn believe that a victory over undisputed lightweight champion Kambosos will validate him in the eyes of the public.
It probably won’t because the casual boxing fans in the U.S have no idea who Kambosos is and won’t care if Haney beats him to become the undisputed champion.
In this era of boxing, belts are less critical than fighters with large fan bases, and Kambosos is a no-name with the casual boxing fans in the U.S.
The Australian Kambosos could have a hundred titles. It wouldn’t increase Haney’s popularity beating him if he were to defeat Tank Davis, Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, or Vasily Lomachenko.
They still intend to look at tonight’s fight between WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and the December 11th contest pitting former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko against former IBF 135-lb champion Richard Commey.
Also, Ryan Garcia is still in the mix and perhaps the best alternative for Kambosos if he wants to bring in the most money. Ryan Garcia would bring in a TON of fans from the U.S in terms of new subscribers to DAZN compared to Haney or Lomachenko.
Jojo says Haney walks through Kambosos
“No, I think the best fighter I’ve ever fought is Gary Russell Jr,” said Jojo Diaz Jr. to Fighthype when asked if Devin Haney is the best fighter he’s ever fought.
“I feel like I’m going to apply more pressure, but Devin Haney will walk through Kambosos because Kambosos only has the overhand right, and I don’t think he has the power or the momentum to push Devin back.
“I feel that Devin will be able to control the pace more,” Jojo Diaz said about his belief Haney tramples Kambosos.
It’s difficult to disagree with Jojo Diaz on his prediction of Haney massacring Kambosos when or if that fight happens next. The way that Kambosos looked against an injured Teofimo Lopez last weekend, he would be in a world of hurt against a talent like Haney.
Haney needs to improve his power – says Diaz
“He’s very fast, very elusive, and has some good pop. Devin Haney, he beat me tonight, but he has a lot to go through still,” Diaz Jr. continued. “My fight with him will make him a better fighter and make him progress in his career and my career as well.
“It’s going to make me a better fighter. So I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and getting better,” said Jojo Diaz in putting a positive spin on his lackluster performance.
“I feel like his pop,” said Jojo on what Haney needs to improve on. “Yeah, he can improve it with just getting his legs stronger and maybe moving up in weight too.
“I feel that the weight cut that he has, he’s a big guy, so I feel like that weight cut depletes his body a lot. So he doesn’t carry that same type of power that he has inside the gym and inside the fight because of that.
“If he moves up in weight, he’ll probably be able to get those knockouts because he’ll be able to carry more power,” said Jojo of Haney.
“Devin Haney, I respect their team. He fought a hell of a fight, and he was the better man tonight. Hats off to him, he deserves the best, and yeah, with the Kambosos fight, styles make fights,” Jojo Diaz Jr said.
As Jojo Diaz says, Devin will need to move up to 140 for him to improve his punching power because he’s rail-thin at lightweight now, and it’s taking too much out of him, draining down to 135.
With Haney’s frame, he can move up to 147 with no problems and have more power in that weight class than 135 or 140.