Teddy Atlas has shared his final thoughts on Brian Norman Jr’s upcoming world title defence against Devin Haney.
Haney will have his sights set on becoming a three-weight world champion when he clashes with his countryman, having previously held the undisputed lightweight championship and the WBC super-lightweight title.
Norman was last in action back in June when he put himself in contention to win the Knockout of the Year with a destructive fifth round stoppage victory over Jin Sasaki at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Speaking on his Youtube channel THE FIGHT. Atlas broke down the intriguing match-up.
“Norman is the less experienced guy but very explosive, very talented. I think he’s going to go after Haney, [which] I think is going to give Haney a chance, style-wise, to be at his best – to be the old Haney, not the Haney that went in there with [Ryan] Garcia.
“It’s got to be the Haney that counterpunches; the Haney that makes you reach. If it’s that [version of] Haney, he wins a decision over Norman.
“[But] if Norman hurts him the way Garcia did, the night’s probably going to be over, because he’s a better finisher than Garcia.”
Haney will be keen on proving the doubters wrong following the criticism in – too defensive and gun-shy – that he received at the conclusion of his most recent outing which came against Jose Ramirez back in May.
As for Norman, the 24-year-old from Georgia has the opportunity to secure the most impressive win of his career to date and cement himself as arguably the best welterweight on the planet in the process.
