Devin Haney is still waiting for a fight against the big three.
Unfortunately for Haney, he’ll have to avoid a landmine before having an opportunity to face Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, or Ryan Garcia. His opponent on Saturday night will be the very experienced Jorge Linares.
In his loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko, Linares was the first professional to send Lomachenko to the canvas.
There’s a lot of pressure on Haney (25-0, 18 KOs) because it’s a fight that can’t end with a ho-hum win. He’s already had one of those when he had an unimpressive victory over Yuriorkis Gamboa. That’s not good for a top notch fighter without a signature victory on his resume.
Haney’s lack of a resume making win has given Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) confidence. “A fight with me is a different level. I can show so many styles, I’m naturally fast and strong, I don’t have a lot of KOs, but he knows I can punch,” said Linares.
Outlook
There’s a fine line between being experienced and being on the backside of your career. Linares is teetering on that line.
On paper, the younger and faster Haney should beat Linares with relative ease but the elephant in the room is Haney’s desperation for an impressive win. If Haney seeks an early knockout, that means he’ll stay in the pocket and could possibly load up on shots that could leave him open for Linares’ power.
Truthfully, the only way Linares can win is if Haney gets sloppy.
Haney won’t use his obvious strengths and will make this an action packed fight. Even with that, he should still win but will the win provide answers or more questions?
