Nick Peet: “In terms of talent, Haney is the real deal”

DEVIN ‘The Dream’ Haney could find himself in his own personal nightmare this weekend when he takes on former pound-for-pound-ranked, three-weight world champion Jorge Linares in Las Vegas.

The 22-year-old, one of the hottest young prospects in world boxing, turned pro in Mexico aged just 16 and has gone on to register a formidable 25-0 record with 15 knockouts.

A smooth, silky boxer boasting a ring IQ far in advance of his years, Haney has hardly lost a round in his rise to the near summit of a lightweight division topped by undisputed champion Teofimo Lopez. But that could certainly change on Saturday night.

Linares may be 35 and suffered two defeats in his last five fights, but the wily Tokyo-based Venezuelan remains a potent name at 135lb. His 47-5 career record spans multiple weight classes, at least a dozen world title fights and plenty of worthy contenders and champions.

Haney was just eight years old when Linares captured the WBC featherweight crown in his 24th professional fight. He would go on to lift the WBA super-featherweight crown too, before moving up for a stint as WBA lightweight champion.

In little over 18 months, from 2015-2017, Linares racked up four wins over three Brits, all successful world title defences. He broken Kevin Mitchell’s heart at the London’s O2 first, then picked up back-to-back points wins over Anthony Crolla before holding onto a tight decision against Luke Campbell in New York.

Eventually, Linares lost his world champion status to Vasyl Lomachenko in 2018 and then suffered a shock first round knockout defeat to little known Mexican Pablo Cesar Cano up at 10-stone. But he’s scored three wins in that time frame too; two early knockouts and one whitewash decision. Veteran Linares may not be as cooked as some had previously suggested.

He was to do this. Can anyone stop him?

Devin Haney: In A Minute ️ pic.twitter.com/ETXiHSTRsE

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 26, 2021

In terms of talent, Haney is the real deal however. He boxed the socks off former albeit featherweight world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa back in November to register his biggest scalp to date and he’s used to being in big fights having already headlined plenty of live TV fight cards in the US.

But it’s punching power where Haney is found wanting, and that could be a big issue against a man as experienced as Linares. The Dream’s 60% finish rate is meagre compared to his big domestic rivals; top dog Lopez (75%), former amateur rival Ryan Garcia (86%) and wrecking machine Gervonta Davis (96%).

British coach Ben Davison has been recruited to take over Haney’s corner for this fight, offering the young Londoner a great chance to rubberstamp his candidacy for boxing’s ‘Coach of the Year’ just a week removed from designing Josh Taylor’s incredible undisputed light-welterweight triumph.

But Haney’s not quite as polished as the new King of Scotland and so a balanced and respectful gameplan based on outboxing Linares, similar to that utilised by Lomachenko, is a pre-requisite for success. It’s time for the real Devin Haney to stand up and be counted again.

TIP: Haney on points (21/10)