Devin Haney dominates Zaur Abdullaev, wins by stoppage

When applied correctly, the jab is a beautiful thing to behold. The blow can lay the foundation for heavier punches that follow.

Last night at Madison Square Garden’s Hula Theater in New York City, rising Devin Haney (23-0, 15 KOs) applied the foundation perfectly. He landed 18 jabs in the first round against Zaur Abdullaev. The stick set up his right perfectly.

Haney, 20, moved and rocked, and then, fired. Though aggressive, Russia’s Abdullaev (11-1, 7 Kos) had no solutions to the puzzle in front of him. Abdullaev had landed the fight by outpointing veteran contender Hank Lundy last year. He was clearly bamboozled from the opening bell.

“Abdullaev was (rated) number two and I destroyed him,” said Haney.

Number two? And wait, Haney was ranked LOWER than Abdullaev by the WBC.

Ridiculous, anyway by round four, Abdullaev had sustained a broken nose and fractured cheekbone, courtesy of Haney’s stinging shots.

His corner stopped the fight before round five commenced. Haney, who captured something called the WBC interim lightweight title, said after the fight that might he could return to the ring in November. And somewhere down the road, he’d like to fight Vasyl Lomachenko.

“Lomachenko let’s get this fight going,” Haney said. “If I’m so easy, No-machenko should fight me and get me out of the way.”

No-machenko? That’s funny, like a jab in the mouth.