Haney: All Eyes Are On Me, It’s My Time To Show Up And Show Out

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—If there’s a silver lining to be found in returning after a near year-long layoff, it’s that Devin Haney’s long-awaited ring return comes right on time for the lightweight division.

On the heels of Teofimo Lopez and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis racking up career-best wins in recent weeks, Las Vegas’s Haney (24-0, 15KOs) is now pressed with his biggest test to date. The reigning lightweight titlist takes on Miami’s Yuriorkis Gamboa (31-3, 18KOs) atop Saturday’s show on DAZN live from Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Resort in Hollywood, Florida (8:00 p.m. ET).

“I’m in a good position right now,” Haney told BoxingScene.com shortly after Thursday’s final pre-fight press conference at the Seminole Ballroom at Hard Rock Hotel. “All eyes are on me.”

The bout comes 52 weeks after Haney made his first title defense and most recent ring appearance, a 12-round decision win over unbeaten Alfredo Santiago last November in Los Angeles. The win came at a price, with Haney suffered a shoulder injury which put him in six months’ worth of physical rehabilitation and recovery.

The process coupled with the pandemic left Haney with a career-long layoff, though now with the opportunity to keep the momentum going in the lightweight division. Brooklyn’s Lopez (16-0, 12KOs) soared to the top of the division after a rousing 12-round win over Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-2, 10KOs) to unify three belts and also claim the lineal lightweight championship on October 17 in Las Vegas.

Baltimore’s Davis (25-0, 24KOs) produced a viral moment in a punch-perfect 6th round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz last weekend in San Antonio.

Four weeks after Haney’s clash with Gamboa comes an interim title fight between unbeaten contender Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17KOs) of Victorville, California and England’s Luke Campbell (20-3, 16KOs) on December 5. The winner, ideally, will face Haney in the first quarter of 2021 assuming he emerges victorious on Saturday and promoter Eddie Hearn gets his wish of staging such an event straight away.

First comes the part where the 21-year young Haney still needs to deliver this weekend.

“I’m happy that all of the lightweights are performing and showing up and showing out,” notes Haney. “It’s good for boxing, it’s good for the lightweight division. It makes these fights bigger. Now it’s my turn. All eyes are on me. It’s my time to show up and show out.

“We’re all pushing each other and it helps to build these fights.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox