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Lightweight prospect and rising contender Devin Haney is set to make his DAZN debut on Saturday, headlining a card from Maryland against Mexico’s Antonio Moran, and Haney is warning the division and the sport that he’s on his way up, fast.
“There’s nothing to stop me from getting to number one, it’s just time,” said Haney. “Timing is everything and my time is going to come. I am only 20 years old, the other lightweights out there better catch me now because I am only going to get stronger and faster so the top guys need to fight me now.”
Haney (21-0, 13 KO) is coming off of a Jan. 11 win over Xolisani Ndongeni, a shutout over 10 rounds in what was Haney’s final fight on ShoBox, where he made a name for himself and went 3-0 on the series over the last year, including wins over Mason Menard and Juan Carlos Burgos.
He now has big designs for his future.
“Boxing is something that I love so it doesn’t feel like a job to me, but the job is not done, I want to be a multi-weight champion and I want to rule the sport as a pound-for-pound star,” Haney said. “When I am the face of boxing down the line, who knows what will happen, but right now those big goals are keeping me motivated.
”Getting the fights I want has been a challenge, a lot of guys have turned me down, saying there’s no point or not making enough money, so that’s been a real challenge. It’s me versus me, when I am in the gym I am so far ahead of a lot of guys that it’s me challenging myself, pushing myself, seeing how far I can go rather than seeing how far I can outrun another guy — how fast can I push myself?”
The 20-year-old Haney says that he’s looking for a world title sooner than later.
”The landscape is very interesting right now. A world title is very important to me, over money and anything else, being world champion is the ultimate goal,” he said. “To be a world ruler at 20 would be history, the youngest in the game. My ring IQ at my age is crazy, I’m able to adapt and adjust, I’ve been in there with so many great fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, and I’m able to adjust.”
He also spoke on his new partnership with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, saying that their willingness to allow him to continue to promote himself while working with them made the difference, as he was a highly-sought after young fighter.
“When I first met Eddie and the Matchroom Boxing team it felt like the perfect fit. Me and my team spoke with Eddie about what we wanted and we were able to make it fit. Eddie recognizes me as a promoter, they are willing to work with me and build my brand and company at the same time,” he said.
“A lot of other promoters didn’t recognize me as a promoter, they just wanted to give me money and buy me out. Matchroom Boxing see me as a top fighter that they want to get behind. I would be important elsewhere, but Eddie made it clear that they are going to push me and get behind me.”