Devin Haney, the youngest world champion in boxing right now, is rightfully getting a great deal of praise for his brilliant repeat win over George Kambosos Jr. But is “The Dream,” as the unbeaten unified lightweight champ is known, worthy of being compared to Floyd Mayweather? In terms of skilled operators, Mayweather set the standard in the late 1990s/early 2000s, this when Mayweather was all but untouchable.
Lou DiBella spoke with Australian media after Haney’s wide decision win over Kambosos at the weekend, and the been-around-forever, seen it all DiBella used the ‘M’ word when rating Haney’s skill, class and overall ability. DiBella also brought up the fact that Mayweather critics said Floyd was a boring fighter, and that some Haney critics say pretty much the same thing about Haney.
“When we watch fights sometimes, and you used to watch Mayweather and he would quietly destroy guys and beat their spirit and win almost every round and people would go, ‘Oh, that’s boring,’” DiBella said. “But here’s the reality too. When you open up against a guy like this [Haney], when you open up against a guy like Floyd, one of the best ever, when you open up against a guy like Shakur Stevenson that’s a similar kind of almost-perfect boxer, you open yourself up to get beaten up. George came there knowing he had to earn his fanbase back, he had to entertain. He knew he was probably walking into a tornado but he did it anyway. He [Haney] hurt him pretty badly and beat him up, and that’s the greatness of a guy like this and the greatness of a Floyd Mayweather. You notice I’m using them in the same breath and that’s not accidental.”
23 year old Haney, now 29-0(15) really has looked superb in some of his fights, and at such a young age, Haney may have years and years ahead of him in which he will dominate. As his numbers rise – number off fights without a loss – the comparison to Mayweather will be heard more and more. Haney could be the next lower weight superstar, maybe the next face of boxing the way “Money” once was.
It remains to be seen how much longer Haney can carry on making 135 pounds, but if Haney does go up and wins a belt at one, two, maybe even three higher weights, his greatness will rise right along with his climb in weight. Greatness? Maybe Haney has a whole lot more to do before he can be called a great, but Haney is well on his way. Ask Lou DiBella.
