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Devin Haney is aware that he needs to look impressive against Yuriorkis Gamboa in defense of his WBC lightweight title Saturday night to keep up with other rising stars Gervonta Davis and Teofimo Lopez Jr. after what they have accomplished in their latest outings.
Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) was impressed by Lopez’s jaw-dropping upset over Vasiliy Lomachenko and Davis’ brutal knockout of Leo Santa Cruz in October, but plans to outdo his peers when he faces Gamboa at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida is live and exclusively on DAZN.
And while some look to 38-year-old Gamboa as one he was, Haney wants to remind everyone that the Cuban more than held out against Davis despite suffering a tear in his right Achilles early in the fight.
“People are neglecting Gamboa,” Haney told DAZN News. “They forget that he gave Tank his toughest fight and it was also Terence Crawford’s toughest fight. He doesn’t lie down for anyone.”
Gamboa pushed Davis into round 12 for the first time in his career before suffering a stoppage by TKO. What Haney wants people to remember about that fight is that Gamboa is hanging with Davis on one leg.
“People seem to forget that Gamboa fought Tank with a ripped Achilles that he suffered in the second round and it was still (Davis’s) toughest fight,” Haney said. “It was a very good and competitive fight. Yes, Tank knocked him out in the 12th round, but he was knocking people out in the first three or four previous rounds.”
Haney is a little concerned that an outstanding performance may scare away the likes of Davis, Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez, but says he is ready for the best that boxing has to offer and hopes what Lopez has done against Lomachenko is a sign that the new generation of boxers are ready for the best names now and not afraid to lose.
“(Lopez) definitely broke down the door for the younger fighters and now these big fights are about to be done because the fans will ask for it,” he said. “There should no longer be such a thing as allowing a fight to marinate anymore. If a fighter loses, it shouldn’t be the end of the world.
“You can watch the UFC right now and when the best fighters lose, they come back and can be on top again. But if the boxers lose, we’re all washed out. It doesn’t make any sense.”
While Haney isn’t afraid to risk his undefeated record to face the division’s best fighters, he’s not so sure his peers feel the same way. For him, it’s not a question of whether they will fight him, but when.
“They aren’t eager to call me because they know how much talent I bring to the table,” said Haney. “But that’s okay because I’ll be the first billion dollar boxing fighter.”
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