By Chris Williams: Devin Haney says he and WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis would make for a “massive fight,” saying it’ll happen “sooner or later.”
It would be better for Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) that his fight with Tank Davis happens “sooner” because he looked huge in size last Saturday night, making the contest look like a small junior middleweight facing a super featherweight.
Haney gassing out in the last section of the fight against Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) is a sign that the weight draining from the mid-150s to 135 is becoming a problem.
While Haney can get away with dropping vast amounts of weight against fighters like Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr, he can’t do that against the highest elite-level fighters like Tank Davis and Shakur Stevenson. Haney can’t be dropping that kind of weight and expect to beat those types of fighters.
Haney doesn’t have the popularity to force Gervonta to fight him at 140 or at a catchweight of 136 like we recently saw in his bout against Ryan Garcia on April 22.
That’s why he must try to get the fight against Gervontaa now, and if he’s unsuccessful, move up to 140. Haney should forget about fighting Shakur because he doesn’t have the style to win that match-up.
Devin confident Gervonta Davis fight happen
“Me and Tank is a massive fight, and it’s going to happen sooner or later,” said Devin Haney at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night when asked about his thoughts on a fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
“I know when the [PPV] numbers come out, the numbers did very well, and the gate did very well. I proved that I’m a draw and that people want to see me in boxing. They come out and support.
“I want to thank Bob [Arum] for giving me the opportunity. Thank you to Top Rank. They treated me so well. They’ve done a tremendous job with the promotion, and I’m excited to see what’s next,” said Haney.
Haney with many options at 135 & 140
He’s still at the top of the heap. You’re still going to put Lomachenko at the top. He’s still right there with these guys. You saw how close it was tonight,” said promoter Lou DiBella to Fight Hub TV when asked where Lomachenko goes from here.
“So where does that put him? He’s still in that top echelon. Devin is undisputed. Loma is right there. I’d like to see Loma against any lightweight in the world, and I wouldn’t mind seeing down the line a rematch of this [Haney-Lomachenko] either.
“With Loma, it’s on to the next one. There are a lot of directions that Devin can go. Look, there are many quality fighters at 135 and many at 140.
“Devin and his team need to consider the weight drain and how difficult it is to get down to 135 because he’s a big kid. He’s a big lightweight. So the decision of whether they stay at 135 or go to 140 is something that Devin, Bill, and his team will have to figure out.
“I’d love to see either guy up against Tank. Tank Davis’ one-punch counter-punching power is among the best I’ve ever seen. As a power counter-puncher he’s one of the best power counter-punchers I’ve ever seen, but he’s not the most active guy.
“He’s the sort of guy that you can get a points lead on, and if he doesn’t land the big bomb, I think he’s beatable. Okay, the thing is, he keeps landing the big bomb.
“I don’t think Devin’s camp would be afraid of that fight. I don’t think so. There are so many good fights to make in that weight class [135]. Devin has to make a decision also, though.
“They really have to take a look at the weight because you don’t want to fight the highest level of guy when your body is telling you that it’s too hard to make that weight. So they have to make that decision,” said DiBella about Haney.
