Sometimes all you can do is win better.

While all their most recent fights aren’t in the same division, it’s fairly easy to start to link a particular crew of lightweight-ish fighters together and even easier to see their shared future. None is older than 25.

They are even more something to look forward to.

Saturday, 21-year old WBC lightweight beltholder Devin Haney (24-0, 15 KO) makes his first start since COVID interruptions. It comes on the heels of 23-year old Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KO) laying claim to the lineal lightweight throne with a win over Vasyl Lomachenko last month and 25-year old Gervonta Davis (24-0, 23 KO) scoring a career best win for the primary WBA crown at Jr. lightweight over Leo Santa Cruz last weekend.

It comes just weeks before 22-year old Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KO) will face 2012 Olympic gold medalist and twice-failed title challenger Luke Campbell in the toughest test of his career.

The first two were highly anticipated and the last of them will be as well. Going in, they were and will be nights where the feeling of inevitability does not accompany the rising star.

This Saturday (DAZN, 8 PM EST) isn’t like that.

Haney is expected to win. 38-year old former featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-3, 18 KO) hasn’t looked anywhere near peak form in years and is coming off a knockout loss to Davis almost a year ago. Gamboa comported himself admirably that night, suffering multiple knockdowns and a torn Achilles to make it to the final round.

It’s unlikely he’s improved since and none of that makes him feel all that live this weekend.

So why Gamboa?

Availability surely assists but boxing loves its comparison shopping and Gamboa’s proximity to Davis can’t be a coincidence. In the absence of a foe like Lomachenko, Santa Cruz, or Campbell, Haney is in pursuit of competition by proxy.

Can he beat Gamboa more impressively than Davis? Aside from getting back in the ring and being active again, it’s the best possible outcome Haney can look for. If he produces something that can go viral, even better.

Haney won’t have the benefit this week or weekend of the coverage the Davis-Santa Cruz pay-per-view or ESPN-aired Lopez-Lomachenko had. While Haney-Gamboa will stream on the same outlet as Garcia-Campbell, Garcia’s social media following will attract more attention for him as well. In terms of fame, Haney is playing catch up to the others.

At 21, that’s not too big a deal.

We are still probably at least a year and a few fights away from any of these four, or 23-year old Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson (14-0, 8 KO), beginning to see each other in the ring. Garcia is close to being a WBC mandatory at lightweight so that could always expedite the timeline but that’s only if his team wants to tempt Garcia-Haney now.

Time is on all their sides and the sport’s. One or more of them may prove not to belong grouped with the others over the long haul. For now, again, it’s just too easy.

Consider this the competitive establishment phase. Lopez and Davis have arrived first in that regard. Everyone else will follow. In terms of foes for Haney, while Garcia is getting closer to a WBC top contender slot, veteran Javier Fortuna is there now. The WBC also still has former divisional beltholders Jorge Linares and Richard Commey in their top ten.

None of them will give Haney a genuine breakout declaration. All of them can build his credentials. So can Gamboa, if only by proxy.

It’s all part of the process until prime time arrives.

Cliff’s Notes…

If Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman Gonzalez II is put on hold so we can see Estrada-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai III, fight fans still win. Either is a phenomenal fight. The former is probably worth more coin and if it’s what everyone paying the freight wants first, they’ll figure it out. Let’s just assume it’s at least probably those three fighters come together for at least two fights in 2021...Gave His Dark Materials a try and it comes recommended to folks who want to watch something with the family that everyone can enjoy...Gervonta Davis and Naoya Inoue are the scariest kind of knockout artists, with proven power in almost any round. The pressure on any foe who ever gets ahead of them to stay perfect will never not be a high wire act...Remember all those Tom Brady memes after week one? He probably does and that’s just fuel for someone who didn’t need any...December 12th looked like the next boxing marathon day. It’s still loaded but losing Miguel Berchelt-Oscar Valdez is a drag...Conversely, Alexander Povetkin-Dilian Whyte being delayed might be better for Whyte by the time the rematch arrives.
         
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com