When Devin Haney beat George Kambosos Jr. in June, he became just the eighth undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Not only that, but ‘The Dream’ also became the youngest to achieve the feat at 23 years, six months and 19 days of age.
Yet when The Ring magazine published its pound-for-pound rankings on August 25, Haney was nowhere to be seen in the top ten.
Even fellow lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko, who last fought on December 11 last year, made the cut.
It left many in the boxing world, but especially the champ himself, baffled.
“Those are opinionated lists at the end of the day,” Haney told foxsports.com.au.
“But I do feel like I should be on every pound-for-pound list. It’s my time to prove it in the ring on Sunday, prove why I deserve to be on every list.”
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The brutal snub also led Haney to declare on his Twitter that “you won’t see him with it (The Ring belt) before or after” his rematch against Kambosos Jr.
He has kept his promise, appearing with only the WBO, WBC, WBA and IBF belts at Friday’s press conference.
Well, he’s almost kept his promise.
In a promotional shoot for Main Event ahead of the rematch, Haney was filmed with The Ring belt draped across his forearms along with the rest of his glittering collection.
A “dominant performance” from Haney (28-0, 15KO) against Kambosos Jr. (21-1, 10KO) on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena should be the final case he needs to make to crack the fabled lists and convince the 23-year-old to wheel out The Ring belt for future fights.
What that “dominant performance” entails doesn’t matter to Haney though, insisting “it’s always victory for me first and a knockout second”.
Either way, Haney is adamant it would be the same outcome every single time he steps into the ring against ‘Ferocious’ based on how the first fight transpired.
“I knew that George wasn’t on my level,” Haney said.
“I knew if I stuck to the game plan and was on point, there was nothing he could do with me. I just feel like I know that I’m the better fighter overall.
“I think if we fought 10 times, I don’t think any of them would be close because of the skill set I bring to the table.”
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And in all of those 10 fights, Haney would expect to have his father, Bill, with him every step of the way in a full camp.
It was a luxury the 23-year-old did not have ahead of the first meeting, with Bill granted entry into Australia the night before his son was due to go into the ring.
In total contrast, Bill has been in Australia for three weeks ahead of the rematch.
It’s why Haney goes into this contest filled with the utmost confidence it will be a repeat of their June encounter, and it could be the key to ensuring he finally breaks into The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.
“It’s been a huge benefit having my dad here,” Haney said.
“It will show in the ring. It will show in how much better I am. With my dad by my side the whole time, I can’t wait to show everything we’ve been working on and how much better I’ve gotten.”
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