By virtue of holding all of the lightweight hardware, Devin Haney is the undisputed king of the 135-pound division.
But the weight class is arguably the sport’s most stacked, and a who’s who of contenders are waiting for a crack at his titles.
Chief among the names Haney may have to fend off in the future include stablemates Vasiliy Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson, PBC-linked fighters like Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz, and rising phenom Ryan Garcia.
Before Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) moves on to the rest of the pack, he must meet a familiar foe once again in George Kambosos Jr. on Oct. 16 (Oct. 15 in the United States on ESPN) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Kambosos exercised his contractual right to a rematch after Haney handily defeated the Greek-Australian in June.
If the soon-to-be 24-year-old Haney is victorious once again, he wants to face one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters.
“That’s definitely a fight that I would love. I’ve been calling for Loma for years,” Haney told reporters during a recent media workout in Las Vegas. “It’s very much a fight that I’m going to entertain after this, but it all starts with [Kambosos]. Loma is a guy on my hit list for sure.”
Another intriguing opponent for Haney is the knockout artist Davis.
“No, I don’t think Tank wants to fight me or nobody else. You look at his record. He’s fought pretty much nobody. He’s 27, and my resume is better than his. I’m the undisputed champion. I don’t feel like he wants to fight anybody, and it’s obvious,” said Haney.
Davis has had three fights at lightweight and has successfully defeated Yuriorkis Gamboa, Rolando Romero, and Cruz .
Haney deems a date with “Pitbull” Cruz to be more likely than a fight with Davis.
“I would love that fight [versus Cruz]. I feel that would be a good fight for boxing,” said Haney. “Stylistically, that’s a good fight for me as well. He could possibly be another fighter for me at 135. He has good power. He applies a lot of pressure, and I like those kinds of fighters.”
Another possible opponent for the Las Vegas-based Haney is Teofimo Lopez Jr., who moved up to super lightweight after losing the titles Haney now owns.
“[Lopez] is at 140 right now. I’m at 135, and like I said, I plan to stay, depending on how I feel after the [Kambosos] fight,” said Haney. “I plan on staying at 135. So that’s not really a fight that I could say, but in the future, I think it’ll be possible.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
