Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney will likely have to pay a small price for moving up in the weight, according to his former promoter Eddie Hearn.
Hearn, the head of Matchroom Boxing, recently stated that Haney’s value as a prizefighter is in large part determined by the titles that he owns—an economic condition that does not necessarily apply to the stars in his division, such as Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Ryan Garcia. Recently Davis and Garcia fought in a high-profile 136-pound bout in Las Vegas that performed exceedingly well at the box office.
Haney, an Oakland, California native who lives and trains in Las Vegas, has had difficulty making the lightweight limit for the past couple of years, leading to speculation that he will move up to the junior welterweight ranks sooner rather than later.
Hearn believes that move, however advantageous to Haney from a physical standpoint, may have some unintended repercussions on his paychecks.
“He’s been at 135 a lot longer than I expected him to be,” Hearn told FightHubTV. “But his value is that he's an undisputed champion. If he moves to 140, he’s beltless. The one thing about Devin is, as good as he is, he’s not yet broken through to, obviously, Tank levels and Ryan Garcia levels in terms of his popularity—but he’s the undisputed lightweight world champion and a tremendous talent.”
Haney is gearing up to defend his lightweight titles against three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko this Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Hearn, who has hinted that he wants to bring Haney back into his promotional fold, said he expects Haney to make weight without any issues given the enormity of the task at hand.
“When the fights weren’t that big you’d see the difference, maybe he’s a little bit less disciplined than he was for like [Jorge] Linares or Jo Jo Diaz, when we had him, and obviously than when he goes into the other fights” Hearn said. “He’ll make sure he makes this weight well (for Lomachenko), but it is a struggle.”
Sean Nam is the author of the forthcoming book Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.