Devin Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) has agreed to terms for a title defense of his WBC lightweight title against Jorge Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) for May 15th on DAZN.
This could be a hard fight for Haney if he can’t score a knockout of Linares, as he’ll be dealing with a guy that can land speedy combinations with a lot of power.
With Linares’ excellent technical boxing skills, you can’t rule out an upset. Haney is a good fighter, but he’s never fought anyone with Linares’ kind of ability. Given Haney’s lack of experience against elite-level opposition, it’s entirely possible that he could lose to Linares.
Linares is someone that has problems against punchers, but Haney doesn’t fit that category. He’s a finesse fighter who has failed to knockout a notable opponent during his five-year pro career.
Dan Rafael reports the terms have been agreed on by Linares, 35, and Haney for the main event on a Matchroom Boxing promoted card on May 15th on DAZN. The location will be revealed later.
Haney, 22, will be getting a $3 million purse for the third defense of his World Boxing Council 135-lb title. This will be the second consecutive fight in which Haney will be taking on an older fighter on the decline.
Haney’s last challenger, 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa, was well past his best years when the two fought last November.
That was an easy win for Haney, who won a less than thrilling 12 round unanimous decision. Linares is not quite as over-the-hill as Gamboa was, so it should be interesting for the fans.
The former three-division world champion Linares still has better power and hand speed than Haney, but that’s not saying a lot.
Linares’ last six fight results:
- Carlos Morales – KO 4
- Al Toyogon – UD 10
- Pablo Cesar Cano – KO 1 loss
- Abner Cotto – KO 3
- Vasily Lomachenko – TKO 11 loss
- Mercito Gesta – UD 10
When Linares is facing guys that don’t have a lot of pop in their punches, he does extraordinarily well. That’s why you can’t rule out an upset win in this fight with Haney because he has very little power.
A loss for Haney will force his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to reassess his goals for him because right now, he sees him as a cant-miss future superstar.
There’s nothing wrong with Hearn having big expectations for Haney, but the fact remains, he’s not been facing great opposition.
When a fighter faces nothing but fluff opponents, they sometimes fall apart when they finally get in with a good fighter with talent and power.
If Haney can win this fight against Linares, Matchroom will start talks with Golden Boy Promotions for a fight against Ryan Garcia. Oscar De La Hoya said today that he’d like to make the fight between Ryan and Haney.
Haney has never been blazing fast, and his punching power could be described as being on the lower end of the scale. This isn’t about Haney not having developed his man-strength yet, but rather it is a case of him not being blessed in the power department.
Linares gives Haney a name that the casual boxing fans have heard of, and that should help him build his legacy and name recognition. Up until now, Haney has mostly fought obscure opposition with limited talent.
Gamboa is the notable fighter that Haney has fought thus far, but he was a good seven years past his prime, unfortunately. Still, Gamboa showed better power than Haney, but he couldn’t land his shots due to Devin’s impeccable defensive skills.
Sources: Devin Haney set to earn $3 million for his May fight against Jorge Linares. The rising star made $2 million for his November bout against Yuriorkis Gamboa. At 22, Haney is already one of the best paid in the game,” said @MikeCoppinger.