By Keith Idec
Often times in boxing, an aging veteran will accuse a young, precocious prospect of overlooking him on the way up the ranks.
The opposite is true of Devin Haney’s fight Friday night against Juan Carlos Burgos. The 19-year-old Haney told BoxingScene.com that the battle-tested Burgos isn’t taking him seriously because the highly touted lightweight is so young and comparatively inexperienced.
“He’s tough, he’s durable and I know he’s fought for a world title three different times, so I know he’s been at the top level,” Haney said. “He’s gonna go into this fight looking past me, thinking I haven’t been at the top level yet. I feel like he feels like he has much more experience than me. He’s older and he’s been at the top, so he’s looking past me.”
Las Vegas’ Haney (19-0, 13 KOs) and Mexico’s Burgos (33-2-2, 21 KOs) will square off in a “ShoBox: The New Generation” main event at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. It’s the second scheduled 10-rounder of Haney’s brief professional career, which began in December 2015.
Haney dominated Mason Menard in his last fight, May 11 in Philadelphia. The strong, talented Haney stopped Menard (33-3, 24 KOs) after the ninth round of that bout.
“It actually helped me a lot because I felt much more confident,” Haney said, “knowing that I pretty much went 10 rounds and I know how I felt going 10.”
Burgos is more accomplished than Menard, but the 30-year-old contender has fought just three times since Mikey Garcia beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder in January 2014. He still is confident he’ll upset Haney in the headliner of Showtime’s three-bout broadcast, which is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
“I don’t think Haney has fought a fighter with the experience I have,” Burgos said. “You can be talented, but there are things you can’t teach. You only learn them with time, no matter how talented you are.”
Haney, meanwhile, would like to become the first opponent to beat Burgos inside the distance.
“If I was able to stop him,” Haney said, “because no one has been able to do that, that would be a huge statement for me.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
