Devin Haney is now 29-0 with 15 knockouts after his second win over George Kambosos Jr. Haney dominated Kambosos in both fights, leaving no room to question who the better boxer is. The question now is who is next for the undisputed lightweight champion of the world? Let's take a look at some of his options.
Vasyl Lomachenko
Photo courtesy of The Spokesman
Devin Haney was not the original opponent for George Kambosos Jr after Kambosos defeated Teofimo Lopez to become the undisputed lightweight champion. Kambosos was going to defend his belts against Vasyl Lomachenko. Lomachenko decided to take some time away from boxing to help support his home country, Ukraine, as they dealt with the conflict with Russia.
This opened up the door for Devin Haney and he ran through it like a running back who saw a hole in the offensive line. Now that Lomachenko is back in the boxing world, he seems to be the logical number one option to be Haney's next opponent.
Lomachenko is facing Jamaine Ortiz on October 29th. If Lomachenko is able to defeat Ortiz, this sets up perfectly for Haney versus Lomachenko for early next year. This fight also should be easy to make with Haney now having worked successfully with Top Rank in his last two bouts.
This would be a great fight for the fans as the styles of Haney and Lomachenko seem to blend for an exciting match-up that ESPN could put on Pay-Per-View. This fight makes sense and cents but what are some other options for Haney.
Gervonta "Tank" Davis
Photo via The Independent
Gervonta "Tank" Davis is 27-0 with 25 knockouts and has become a pay-per-view star. This makes him a very attractive opponent for boxers who are looking to not only take on the best of the best but also make a name for themselves.
Devin Haney is chasing greatness and deserves to be a household name with more than just the die-hard boxing fans. If Haney is able to defeat Davis, he would be able to use that as a catapult into super stardom.
Davis' last fight was on May 28th against Rolando Romero. Davis was able to defeat Romero with a very impressive 6th round knockout.
In my personal opinion, this fight was a waste of time for Gervonta Davis. Romero's resume is very thin and he did not deserve to be in the headline match of a pay-per-view card. I have been critical of Davis and his management team as we have not seen Davis fight the best of the best at 135 or 140 pounds. Hopefully, Davis has heard this talk and will push to get fights against the top competition.
This would be an awesome fight for the fans and would benefit both fighters, financially . It would also help both fighters out, legacy wise as well. Unless one fighter gets dominated, which is hard for me to see. So hopefully, for fight fans sake, we get this fight one day.
Shakur Stevenson
Photo provided by CBS Sports
Shakur Stevenson is 19-0 with 9 knockouts and was victorious over Robson Conceicao in his last bout but lost his belts on the scale as he failed to weigh in under the 130 pound limit. Stevenson announced that he will be moving up to 135 pounds.
Stevenson is becoming a star and a match-up with Devin Haney would be big time. Now this match-up may not happen immediately as Stevenson has not fought at 135 pounds yet. So, I would not be shocked if Top Rank sets up one or two matches for Stevenson against top ten ranked guys before he gets a shot at the belts.
Now this fight would be very interesting as both of these fighters are very defensively sound. It wouldn't be an out type brawl that "casuals" want but it would be a great technical contest where the tension will be high all match.
Devin Haney at the weigh-in for Haney vs Kambosos 2
A lot of boxing fans saw this image and others of Devin Haney at the weigh-in for Haney vs Kambosos 2 and were concerned about Haney's appearance as he looked to be "drained" from cutting to below 135 pounds. Now only Haney can tell us if making 135 pounds is becoming too much for his body to handle. If cutting to that weight is too much, here are some options at 140 pounds.
Teofimo Lopez
Picture via ESPN
Teofimo Lopez is 17-1 with 13 knockouts. The former undisputed champion at 135 pounds, moved up to 140 pounds in his last bout. Lopez is set to fight Jose Pedraza on December 10th. If Lopez is able to beat Pedraza, a match-up between Lopez and Haney would be as good as a non-championship match that you can find. The winner would definitely be set up for a title match at 140 later in 2023.
This match-up would be very interesting from a drama perspective as these two have been going back and forth for a few years now. It will be even more interesting from a style perspective as Lopez is an explosive offensive fighter with power in both hands while Haney is a defensive specialist that is very sharp with his punches. This would be an awesome fight for fans.
Josh Taylor
Photo courtesy of Daily Mail
Josh Taylor is 19-0 with 13 knockouts, he was formerly the undisputed champion at 140 pounds and now has two of the four belts. In his last bout he defeated Jack Catterall via split decision. I thought that Catterall should of gotten the decision and I was not the only one. Taylor heard this noise and will face Catterall again. If Taylor takes care of business and defeats Catterall. Taylor versus Haney would be a really good match-up for boxing fans. The best fighter at 135 versus the best fighter at 140.
Would the size of Taylor bother Haney as Taylor is 5'10" with a 69" reach? Would Taylor be able to box from the outside or have to get close to Haney to be effective? There are so many interesting questions that this fight would bring?
Devin Haney has so many options at his disposal and has shown that he wants to be great. I can't wait to see what's the next chapter in his story.