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There’s no denying that the 25-year-old Devin Haney is a significant expertise. There’s additionally no denying his standing as an ahead-of-the-curve elite-level fighter for his age. He was the professional, fully-unified light-weight world champion and he’s aiming to turn into the WBC junior welterweight champ this Saturday when he meets defending titlist Regis Prograis at Chase Middle in San Francisco.
However there are two takes on Haney which are equally legitimate– a optimistic and a unfavourable.
On the one hand, the child is the very definition of somebody who took an enormous danger together with his profession, leaving cash on the desk with the intention to gamble on himself.
Again in early 2022, he agreed to much less cash than he would’ve preferred in his light-weight title unification conflict with George Kambosos. He agreed to struggle in Kambosos’ native Australia and signed himself over to a compulsory rematch, additionally in Australia. He even signed a co-promotional take care of DiBella Leisure (Kambosos’ promoter on the time) and High Rank to get the Kombosos deal and get the struggle secured for airing on ESPN.
He made lots of concessions. Truly, he conceded on all the pieces. However he made the appropriate transfer.
“To be trustworthy, I just about simply agreed to all the pieces that they needed,” Haney instructed Fighthype.com. “It doesn’t matter what it was, we didn’t argue. We didn’t get nothing our approach however we didn’t do no arguing. We simply stated ‘no matter we will do to make the struggle occur.’ If I gotta go on there on one other community, one other promoter — which is my promoter now — to make the struggle occur, so be it. If I gotta rematch you twice in Australia, so be it. It didn’t matter, I simply needed the belts. I would like my identify to be within the historical past books eternally.
“I’m taking lots much less cash that what I must be making, however it’s what it’s. It’s about my identify being within the historical past books and my identify being remembered and the cash will come…once I get the belts, then I can write my very own checks.”
Up till the Kambosos alternative, his profession had taken an virtually Demetrius Andrade-like vibe to it. With illogical and hyper-inflated purse expectations (due to then-broadcaster, streaming service DAZN) and, realistically, restricted drawing energy (additionally due to DAZN), he remained all risk-little reward to the highest fighters in his weight vary. His boardroom WBC title supplied little incentive for any “identify” opponent to just accept the chance of taking him on.
Playing on himself was a ballsy transfer and a obligatory one if he needed to realize next-level success. His strikes function an actual profession life lesson to fighters who cry about being averted and about not getting the big-fight alternatives they really feel they deserve. Haney went and humbled himself within the current tense with the intention to seize at greatness later.
His determination again in 2022 led to the chance to unify all 4 135 lb. titles, a subsequent pay-per-view conflict with Vasiliy Lomachenko, and now this upcoming pay-per-view contest with Prograis. With out making the sacrifices to get the Kambosos struggle, he would possibly nonetheless be preventing second tier challengers, chasing stars.
However right here comes the second tackle Devin Haney, which is equally as related as the primary.
Haney remains to be a piece in progress and one who generally tendencies in direction of a sensible, however cynical “just do sufficient to win” mindset that makes one doubt whether or not true greatness is within the playing cards for him.
In opposition to Kambosos, each occasions, Haney was terribly enough. He didn’t carry out brilliantly, however he didn’t need to. The little that he needed to unleash from his arsenal– jab, seize, fundamental movement– was sufficient to fully nullify Kambosos. At occasions, he acting on cruise management. He by no means pushed issues to actually set up his dominance. This, regardless of it being very apparent that he was the far superior fighter. That doesn’t precisely scream “greatness.” The nice ones drill house their greatness. Haney simply did sufficient to get the “W”– an method that made him look extra like Devon Alexander than Terence Crawford.
In opposition to Lomachenko, Haney carried out higher and with extra urgency in a bout which had plenty of ebbs and flows in momentum (and one which many thought Lomachenko truly gained). How a lot of that elevated urgency, although, was because of the strain from Lomachenko? In all probability, tons.
This Saturday, we’ll most likely see the identical Devin Haney we all the time see– managed, environment friendly, well-prepared, and a younger man who’s made all the appropriate enterprise strikes to get to the place he’s at present at. However we’ll additionally seemingly see the opposite Devin Haney– conservative, cautious, and unwilling/unable to push himself exterior of his consolation zone.
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