Devin Haney vs Jorge Linares official for May 29 in Las Vegas on DAZN

Expected for a while, it’s now fully official. Matchroom have announced that Devin Haney will defend his WBC lightweight title against Jorge Linares in a May 29 main event on DAZN from Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.

Haney (25-0, 15 KO) takes a good step up here finally, as Linares (47-5, 29 KO) is still a top 10 lightweight, which will be the first time we’ve been able to say that about any Haney opponent. The 35-year-old Venezuelan isn’t in his absolute prime anymore, but last we saw him in Feb. 2020 he ripped an often-tricky Carlos Morales inside of four rounds and looked sharp.

That win was supposed to set up a fight between Linares and Ryan Garcia, but COVID took that plan out, and then an intended August return for Linares against Javier Fortuna was also canceled. Now, it appears Fortuna will get Garcia, while Linares gets a title crack against Haney.

This date is also close to the expected June 5 for Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr, and if Lopez and Haney both win, that can be discussed again. Haney has also had social media beef with Vasiliy Lomachenko, who is expected to return this summer against Masayoshi Nakatani.