By Dan Ambrose: Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney took a shot at the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight, saying that while it’s popular due to the “influencer” aspect to it, the match doesn’t compare to his title defense against #1 WBC Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) says his fight with the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) is #1 vs. #2 in the lightweight division.
Devin would get a strong argument from fans, who don’t view him as anywhere close to being #1 at 135. They view Haney as just a guy that beat a paper champion in George Kamboso Jr, who dethroned the headcase, Teofimo Lopez.
In other words, Haney didn’t beat anyone good to become the undisputed four-belt lightweight champion, and he was elevated to WBC champ outside of the ring before he fought Kambosos. Hence, Haney was called an “email champion” before fighting the badly flawed Kambosos Jr last year.
It’s fair to say that Haney is the third-best lightweight in the division behind #1 Shakur Stevenson and #2 Gervonta Davis. However, we don’t even know if Haneey can still make weight in the 135-lb division because he’s huge, even for the 140-lb division.
“Obviously, they got the influencer thing. Big followings. So it’s a big fight. But true boxing followers know this is the real fight. This is #1 and #2 fighting to be king of the division,” said Devin Haney to the media on the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight compared to his title defense against #1 WBC contender Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th.
The truth is that both fights don’t involve the best fighting the best. Ryan Garcia is no longer a lightweight; he now campaigns at 140. Ryan hasn’t fought at lightweight for two years since 2021, and he’s made it known that he’s done with the division.
Besides, Ryan has never proven himself against a solid lightweight during his carer, considering his best win came against Luke Campbell. Ryan has never fought any of these talented lightweights:
- Frank Martin
- Shakur Stevenson
- Keyshawn Davis
- Isaac Cruz
Gervonta’s resume is equally poor, with the only notable names being Isaac Cruz and Leo Santa Cruz.
Haney hasn’t fought anyone good either, and we saw him almost get knocked out by a washed 35-year-old Jorge Linares.
The best names on Haney’s resume:
- Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz
- George Kambosos Jr x 2
- Alfredo Santiago
- Jorge Linares
- Yuriorkis Gamboa