Is Devin Haney the Most Avoided Male Lightweight Champion?
- Oct 7, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 7, 2022
Devin Haney, the twenty-two-year-old WBC lightweight champion, is the most avoided champion on the planet. Despite achieving one of the most prestigious accolades in boxing, many do not recognise Haney as a champion. This is because of the mess created by the WBC’s franchise champion.
The franchise championship is “a special designation and status which the WBC may bestow to a current WBC champion… and has achieved and maintains the highest of statures if the sport.” After Vasyl Lomachenko was awarded this accolade, Devin was elevated from interim champion to world champion. However, after Lomachenko was beaten by Teofimo Lopez, Lopez has been calling himself the undisputed champion. Lopez believes he holds all four belts in the lightweight division. (1)
Through no fault of his own, Lopez thinks there is not a need to fight Haney as he defeated the franchise champion. However, in this situation between Lopez and Haney, the WBC have disregarded their own ruling. The WBC franchise “designation is not transferable and is exclusively to the fighter who receives such designation.” (2)
“If the franchise champion loses, the winner will receive the diamond belt and may be considered as mandatory contender for the division.” Under the WBC’s own ruling, referring to the situation when Jermall Charlo was elevated after Canelo Alvarez received his franchise championship at middleweight, Lopez is Haney’s mandatory challenger. If this is not the case, this is another example of the WBC using its reputation to assert its dominance in the boxing world. (3)
Eddie Hearn said it best to Lopez, “you should be undisputed champion, but you are not.” (4)
Whilst Haney was signed to Matchroom Boxing USA, two fighters under the same broadcast network, DAZN, have achieved the mandatory position for the WBC lightweight belt and both have decided not to fight Haney. Both JoJo Diaz and Ryan Garcia have decided they would rather fight each other; instead of fulfilling the reason for mandatory positions. Both Diaz and Garcia would make excellent opponents for Haney, which is another reason why the pair avoiding him is bizarre.
As his mandatories are refusing to fight him and the need to unify in the division, Haney has refused to sign a new contract with Matchroom Boxing in the hope to force a fight with the other big names in the division. Boxing politics have prevented many exciting fights from happening all over the world because of spite towards other promoters, clash between broadcasters and the simple matter of fighters avoiding other fighters. We only must look at the upcoming Canelo Vs Caleb Plant fight, Eddie Hearn couldn’t make the fight but as soon as he took himself out of the situation… the fight was made.
Haney has played an exceptional move, sending a message to the other big names in the division. This message is simple, ‘I’m here’. There is nothing stopping these fights from being made, Haney is no longer signed with a promoter or broadcaster. Gervonta Davis’s team have openly said they have wanted to only fight ‘In house’ opponents (fighters under the PBC promotional company).
There is one fight that can now fit into this definition. Whilst Haney wouldn’t be signed to PBC, he wouldn’t be fixed to promotional company either.
This move has now put pressure on the big names in the division, none of them can say Haney is ‘ducking them’ or ‘the fight is difficult to make’. Devin has removed all these obstacles.
His unanimous decision victory against former three-weight world champion Jorge Linares cemented his place at the top of the lightweight scene, alongside Lopez and Lomachenko. Haney boxed incredibly for nine rounds, disarming any attack Linares through at him. He wasn’t just boxing and moving, he was engaging making an exciting fight. The only moment he became complacent was when he got caught at the end of the nineth, wobbling on his way back to the corner. However, these were the championship rounds and Haney recovered and dominated in the twelfth.
With the IBF, WBA and WBO belts locked into the Lopez Vs George Kambosos fight, it has been rumoured that Haney’s next opponent will be the former super-featherweight world champion Lee Selby. Make no mistake, this is a competitive fight, but should Selby be getting a title fight of a loss? (5)
If you were Maxi Hughes, you wouldn’t be very happy. In just over a year he has beaten three world ranked opponents, winning two belts in the process. Surely, Hughes has more of a claim to a shot at the WBC title than Selby has?
If none of the of the other champions are going to fight Haney, lets feed him contenders who deserve the title shot.
Devin Haney has done all he can do to solidify his position at the top of the lightweight division. However, the mess created by the WBC and its ‘franchise’ champion has allowed other fighters to disregard Haney as a world champion and undermine his credibility. Not signing another promotional contract with Matchroom has proven to fans that he wants the big fights in the division but if mandatories and other fighters are simply refusing to fight…
What more can the twenty-two-year-old champion do?
References:
(1) – https://wbcboxing.com/en/saul-canelo-alvarez-wbc-franchise-champion/amp/
(2) – As above
(3) – As Above
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