By Jack Tiernan: Devin Haney says he has no intention of accepting the WBC Franchise title if he successfully defeats unified four-belt lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. on June 4th at the Marvel Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia.
Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) already possesses the WBC 135-lb title, which he feels is the more valuable of the belts, and it’s the traditional belt with the World Boxing Council.
The Franchise belt that Kambosos holds is a recently created title by the WBC, given to popular fighters to allow them to pick & choose fights.
Some fans call it the ‘Canelo belt’ because he was the first recipient of the Franchise belt, which allowed him to move as he pleased in any direction like ‘The King’ in a chess game.
“Nah, ‘franchise’ is not really my thing. I’m already the champion. What do I need ‘franchise’ for?” said Devin Haney to DAZN Boxing Show.
It makes sense for Haney to reject the WBC Franchise title because it’s not prestigious or transferable unless you choose to put it on the line.
Even if Haney does beat Kambosos, he won’t be viewed as the #1 fighter in the lightweight division. Having a bunch of titles like the Franchise strap, for example, doesn’t mean anything.
Boxing fans won’t rate the Kambosos vs. Haney winner until they beat Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko because those two are considered the best at 135.
Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) needs to focus on trying to find a way of beating Kambosos because the Australian will be enjoying home advantage in their fight.
If Haney doesn’t win the rounds convincingly, he’s likely to wind up the loser. Many boxing fans can’t shake the memory of Manny Pacquiao losing a questionable 12-round decision to Australian Jeff Horn in 2017 in a fight in Brisbane, Australia.
Kambosos is coming off a big 12-round split decision win over a sickly Teofimo Lopez last November at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The victory seems to have gone to Kambosos’ head, as he’s talking as if he’s going to hold onto his four belts for an extended period rather than him likely losing them in his first or second defense.
It’s fair to say that if Kambosos doesn’t lose to Haney, he’ll get beaten in his second defense if he goes ahead with his idea of defending against Vasily Lomachenko.
This week, Haney fired back at IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo after commenting on him during his roundtable with Showtime. Charlo said, “I see little Devin Haney, for instance. He got an opportunity; he got put in place to be undisputed.”
Haney took issue with Jermell, saying he “got put in place to be undisputed” because he feels he earned the spot. This was Haney’s reaction below:
I might be little… but you took a L to become undisputed maybe two 🤯
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) April 18, 2022
