By Adam Baskin: Devin Haney maintains that he’s now the BEST lightweight in the division after becoming the undisputed 135-lb champion last Saturday night with his victory over unified champion George Kambosos Jr.
Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) believes that his win over Kambosos translates into him being the #1 guy in the division, above the other great fighters like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko.
Unfortunately, boxing fans collectively fail to see Haney as the best at 135 or even the second-best. They see Haney as #3 in the division, behind #1 Tank Davis and #2 Lomachenko.
The only thing Haney proved with his win over Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs) is that he could beat a belt-holder who had struggled to defeat fading 37-year-old Mickey Bey and 34-year-old Lee Selby.
It’s clear that if Tank Davis and Lomachenko had fought Kambosos, they would have beaten him too, likely by knockout. Kambosos wouldn’t go the distance with those two.
“Something like that,” said Haney to Thaboxingvoice when asked if Kambosos has a 30-day window to activate the rematch clause to force a second fight.
“What I’m hearing is that he will try and exercise it, but I don’t know. Honestly, if I had any place that I would want it to be, it would be in Oakland [California],” Haney said about his preferred location for the Kambosos rematch.
“I guess that’s just opinion,” said Haney when told that a fan said that him being undisputed lightweight champion doesn’t mean he’s the best in the 135-lb division. “If undisputed doesn’t determine it, then what does? I guess everyone has their own opinion about who is the best.
“There’s always going to be someone else to fight. They make someone every day. They can always keep making opponents. That’s just how the game goes. I’m always going to have unfinished business.
“If I beat Tank, they’re going to say, ‘Ryan Garcia,’ and if I beat Ryan Garcia, they’re going to say, ‘Beat Loma,’ and if I beat Loma, they’re going to say, somebody else. It’s going to be another guy, another guy, and another guy. That’s just how boxing goes.
“Look at Canelo. He cleans up the [168-ln] division, and then they tell him, ‘go up and fight this person and that person, and go back down in weight. That’s how the game goes,” said Haney.
Devin might be a tad bit off about his comment about Canelo Alvarez having cleaned up the 168-lb division when he became the undisputed champion in 2021.
The fact is, Canelo failed to beat the two best guys at super middleweight David Benavidez and David Morrell Jr., when he became the undisputed champion last year.
What Canelo did prove is he can defeat belt-holders, which is the same thing Haney did by beating unified lightweight champion Kambosos.
“It’s not easy for me to make the weight at 135. I may end up hurting myself by staying longer than I need to at 135,” Haney hinting that he’ll be leaving the lightweight division soon.
