Devin Haney has recently been made WBC Champion in Recess at Super-Lightweight leaving fans questioning where he goes next.
Formerly undisputed at lightweight, Haney moved up to 140 and beat Regis Prograis for the title. He would retain in his first defence but not in a way any champion would like.
To add to the already messy situation, the result has now been overturned to a No Contest due to failed doping tests on Garcia’s part, giving Haney his undefeated record back. He has since pulled out of a purse bid to face mandatory challenger Sandor Martin and asked to step back from the belt.
Many feel that he will now move up once more to welterweight and could target a fight against new WBC Champion Mario Barrios. It’s a route that one former opponent, Jorge Linares, feels would be wrong.
Speaking to YSM Sports Media, Linares said Haney needs to move back down rather than up because his ‘lack of chin and power’ will become a real problem the higher he goes.
“Haney, I think honestly you need to come down. Come to 135. It’s the best [for you]. If he continues at 140, so many boxers they have more punch than him. And he don’t have a chin. Ryan Garcia has a better chin than Haney and Ryan has a punch. But Haney doesn’t have a chin or a punch. That’s the difficult situation for him right now.”
Linares – who lost a unanimous decision to Haney in 2021 despite wobbling the champion towards the end of the bout – said the new generation of fighters weren’t willing to make proper sacrifices with weight.
“The new generation, they don’t like to make too much sacrifice with their weight. It’s more easy to say ‘oh I’m gonna make 140.’ Easy? You need to make the sacrifice to lose weight. And when you make that sacrifice you can have more chance to win the fight.”
Haney’s struggles with making 135 on the scales were well documented, so the advice is extremely unlikely to be followed.
