Promoter Eddie Hearn believes unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney is on the cusp of superstardom with him facing Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. on December 4th, then possibly Teofimo Lopez Jr. in early 2022.
If Haney (26-0, 15 KOs0 defeats Jojo Diaz and Teofimo in consecutive fights to become the undisputed lightweight champion, Hearn believes he’ll have risen to the status of superstar.
That would be impressive, considering that Haney will be turning 23-years-old on November 17th. To be that young and closing in on huge wins, it’s going to take Haney to the top overnight.
First things first, Haney must beat former IBF super featherweight champion Jojo Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs) on December 4th in their headliner on DAZN at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Haney can’t afford to get caught by the 28-year-old Jojo Diaz Jr. like he was in his last fight against Jorge Linares on May 29th.
Linares had Haney badly hurt and holding on during the championship rounds of that fight, and it was quite lucky that he held on to get the victory.
If Jojo Diaz hurts Haney, he’ll likely finish him because he’s not going to let him stall out the fight by clinching, as he did against Linares.
Haney facing tough challenge
“I think he is a superstar but to be a superstar you need the fights,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social in talking about Devin Haney.
“We really struggled to get him fight early on, and the most pleasing thing going the Jorge Linares fight and going straight into the Jojo Diaz fight, and hopefully, he’ll come out and go into the Teofimo Lopez fight.
“That’s where you’re going to see the best Devin Haney and that’s where you’re going to see him become a superstar because he’s got everything,” Hearn continued.
“He’s a tremendous fighter, but the Jojo Diaz fight is a really, really tough fight and that’s a fight that he could lose.
But if he [Haney] comes through that, it’s happening a week after the Teofimo Lopez against George Kambosos [on November 27th]. Booth of those fights are on DAZN. Get Haney commentating on one and get Lopez in Vegas for the Haney fight.
“That’s a fight that I believe we can make [Teofimo vs. Haney]. Teofimo’s dad has told me that he wants to go straight into that fight. [Devin’s dad] Bill Haney told me he wants to go straight into that fight, but they both have tough fights to come through first.
“For me, Devin is the best lightweight in the world, but he’s got to prove it against A-level opposition. He had a good performance again [Jorge] Linares. Let’s see it against Jojo Diaz.
“Probably, a little bit, but I think we’re in a great position,” said Hearn when asked if the U.S has been tough for him and his Matchroom Boxing promotion to break into.
Haney has got to raise his game considerably for him to beat Jojo Diaz Jr. and Teofimo because he looked shaky against Linares.
Hearn questions Top Rank’s longevity
“To be three years in and everyone saying, it’s a toss-up between Matchroom, PBC, and Top Rank in terms of who’s the biggest, it’s very flattering, to be honest with you.
“And when you look at the future of their business, not being funny, Bob Arum, I don’t mean this condescendingly, how long can he keep running that business for? What happens after that?
“PBC, who is the driver for that business? So, I think we’re [Matchroom] in a great position. DAZN’s subs are at a tremendous level in America.
“I just saw from being in Vegas last week that fans in America love DAZN, they love it. They’ve been getting Canelo Alvarez fights for 19 pounds 99 dollars, plus all the other schedule,” said Hearn.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum must have a person in his company that can take over for him when he steps down at some point in the future.
It’s unclear whether that person will be Todd duboef or somebody else, but Hearn is questioning what happens once Arum is no longer at the rudders of the great company.
Eddie predicts Matchroom to be #1 in the U.S
“They just had to pay 80 bucks for a one-off [between Canelo and Caleb Plant]. They love DAZN in America. They’ve got a really significant subscriber base and the best schedule in boxing, bar none in America.
“You look what they’ve got coming up. They’ve got Munguia against Rosado this week, you’ve got Andrade against Quigley, a quadruple-header, you’ve got Teofimo Lopez against George Kambosos, you’ve got Devin Haney against Jojo Diaz, and you’ve got Gennadiy Golovkin against Murata.
“That’s just America. So the schedule is on another level, and they’re not asking you to pay 80 bucks to watch Teofimo or 80 bucks to watch Jojo Diaz against Devin. So I think they’re [DANZ] in a great position.
“We [Matchroom] are really nicely placed. We have a tremendous business that is on another level in terms of its structure and financially to everybody else. So, we’ll sit and bide our time and take them all out of the game,” said Hearn.
It’ll be interesting to see if Matchroom does take over as the #1 promotional company in the U.S soon, if they’re not already occupying that spot.
Having Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua gives Matchroom a big boost, but how much longer will those two fighters be around.
Joshua’s career is on the brink of oblivion, and Canelo is getting up there in age. The Mexican star Canelo has taken a long three-year break from fighting elite opposition with his quest to become the undisputed champion at 168.
What happens when Canelo finally has to start fighting good opposition once again by facing David Benavidez, Gennadiy Golovkin, or Artur Beterbiev?
There’s a lot of uncertainty there with Canelo, particularly with the way he struggled in his fights against the badly flawed 168-lb champions Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant.
Those guys are nowhere near the level of Benavidez, Golovkin, Dmitry Bivol, or Joe Smith Jr.
