By Jake Donovan

Devin Haney has landed back on his originally targeted fight date—only now it’s literally thousands of miles from home. 

The lightweight title eliminator between unbeaten contenders Haney and Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev has shifted back to September 13 but will now take place at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theatre in New York City, BoxingScene.com has learned.

News of the switch in locations to New York from Haney’s hometown of Las Vegas, Nev. was first revealed by ESPN.com’s Steve Kim, and confirmed by Abdullaev’s team.

“We were told that the fight is no longer in Las Vegas, we are now traveling to New York City,” German Titov, Abdullaev’s promoter confirmed to BoxingScene.com on Monday.

The switch in dates and venues is just the latest twist in staging this contest, although the stakes have been considerably raised in recent weeks. The bout was originally due to take place Sept. 13 in Las Vegas, where Haney (22-0, 14KO) resides and as part of a fight week that was to include a Mexican Independence Day-themed show headlined by World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

Once the latter plans hit the scrap heap, efforts were made to build a card around Haney, a rising star whom signed with DAZN-USA through Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA outfit. The promoter teased plans of a Sept. 14 card in Las Vegas, to be accompanied by locally based second-generation heavyweight Michael Hunter. 

The two will still appear on the same show and in dangerous crossroads bouts versus unbeaten Russians—Hunter (17-1, 12KOs) takes on rising prospect Sergey Kuzmin (15-0, 11KOs)—just no longer with the benefit of a hometown backdrop.

Instead, each will fight in New York City for the first time in their respective careers, as will Abdullaev (11-0, 7KOs), who fights outside of his native Russia for the first time as a pro.

While not publicly confirmed or even suggested, the location change coincides with news previously reported by BoxingScene.com’s Keith Idec of England’s Tyson Fury commanding the Sept. 14 date in Vegas. The unbeaten former heavyweight titlist will play Sin City for a second straight time, facing unbeaten Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin.

The change in plans ultimately plays to the promotion’s advantage.

While the aforementioned quartet will fight in unfamiliar surroundings, the show will carry a supporting bout which should positively impact the box office in a big way. As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, an all-Brooklyn battle between unbeaten featherweight titlist Heather Hardy (22-0, 4KOs) and seven-division title claimant Amanda Serrano (36-1-1, 27KOs) is in advanced talks and now budgeted to land on this show.

Haney made a major statement in his DAZN debut, scoring a highlight reel 7th round knockout of Antonio Moran this past May in Oxon Hill, Md. In a way, the show mirrored to his upcoming showcase slot as he was advanced to the main event once World cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk was forced to withdraw after suffering a torn biceps injury ahead of his planned heavyweight debut versus Carlos Takam.

The plan from there was to proceed with a title fight versus England’s Luke Campbell, whom Hearn also promotes. A title fight is still very much in Haney’s future, provided he gets past Abdullaev. Whom it will come against depends upon the outcome of Campbell’s three-belt clash with unified titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko on Aug. 31 in London, England. 

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