NEW YORK—Devin Haney may be wise beyond his 20 years of age but isn’t above a little trolling.
Another star turn was delivered in his latest performance, bludgeoning Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (11-1, 7KOs) through four one-sided rounds of action in their battle of unbeaten lightweights Friday evening at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. The win netted the Las Vegas-based boxer an interim lightweight title which he’s eager to parlay into a full title shot.
The claimant to that crown is Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10KOs), who added a third belt to his lightweight collection following a 12-round win over England’s Luke Campbell this past August in London.
A clear answer was never given as to when Haney can expect his turn in line but that hasn’t stopped him from beginning the campaign.
“It’s No-machenko because he doesn’t want to fight me,” Haney (23-0, 15KOs) insisted of the pound-for-pound entrant, who is angling for a shot at the winner of the Dec. 14 clash between IBF lightweight titlist Richard Commey and unbeaten Teofimo Lopez. “Lomachenko let’s get this fight going! Abdullaev was number two and I destroyed him. If I’m so easy, No-machenko should fight me and get me out of the way.”
A fight between Lomachenko and the winner of Commey vs. Lopez would establish a true undisputed lightweight champion, which Haney and his team acknowledge would take precedence over any other fight, even their own planned title bid. However, the 31-year old southpaw would presumably have to fight someone in between, unless the plan is to sit out for upwards of 10 months to make that fight happen.
“Lomachenko wants to fight the winner of Commey and Lopez. Both guys have agreed to fight Lomachenko if they win,” pointed out Eddie Hearn, Haney’s co-promoter (along with Devin Haney Promotions). “That fight’s not going to be be until April, May or June. He boxed in August. So is he going to sit out, Lomachenko? If he fights in the interim, the fights have to insist he fights his mandatory.
“If he fights for the undisputed, I understand—every fighter should try and fight for the undisputed title. If not, I believe he should take his mandatory.”
The flip side to rising through the ranks so early in your career is the claim that such a young fighter isn’t quite ready for prime time. To that suggestion comes a counter offer.
“If I’m so easy, if I’m not ready, then why not just get me out the way,” wonders Haney. “If I saw someone in my position who was viewed as just an easy payday, I would fight him too.
“Why not get me out the way? I’m mentioning his name every single day, I’m talking about him, I DM’d (direct messaged) him on his Instagram, he didn’t respond. I mean, c’mon.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
