By Adam Baskin: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis took a shot at Devin Haney’s legitimacy as the undisputed lightweight champion today by saying that fans “don’t know him” and that he was either handed a title [WBC] or waited until a weak belt holder [George Kambosos Jr’ got his hands on the titles before he chose to fight for them.
‘Tank’ Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) is dead on correct about Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) not being well known to the casual boxing fans, partly because of his weak resume, but mostly due to boring, safety-first fighting style, and complete lack of punching power.
To add to this mad witch’s brew, Haney has no charisma to speak of, isn’t interesting to listen to, and he’s been fighting on DAZN in obscurity.
Haney would be more known if he’d chosen to fight these types of fighters during his eight-year professional career:
- Shakur Stevenson
- Vasyl Lomachenko
- William Zepeda
- Isaac Cruz
- Gervonta Davis
- Frank Martin
- Ryan Garcia
- Oscar Valdez
- Teofimo Lopez
- Regis Prograis
“They gave Devin [Haney] a belt. He didn’t fight for his belt,” said Gervonta Davis to Brian Custer’s podcast about Devin Haney receiving his WBC 135-lb title via email.
“When he became undisputed, he waited for [George] Kambosos to win the [IBF, WBA & Ring lightweight] belts. When Teofimo [Lopez] had the belts [Haney didn’t challenge him], but he has all those belts [now], and people still don’t know him. He knows who the real champ is.”
I hate to say it, but I agree with Gervonta. Devin knows who the real champion is; hence he seems insecure & bitter much of the time. That could be why he took a shot at Gervonta’s opponent, Hector Luis Garcia, who he faces tonight in the main event on Showtime PPV in Washington, D.C.
Instead of being bitter, Haney needs to look at his career and make the adjustments needed for him to become a star in his own right. That will not be easy because some things are unchangeable, such as Haney’s lack of charisma. But with planning and the right PR coach, he can prepare himself for interviews, so he can say the right things to get boxing fans interested in him. Acting classes might help as well to give him some personality.
The hardest part for Haney will be to step it up against better opposition without getting beaten repeatedly and winding up on skidrow career-wise.