Few sports deal as well in hyperbole as boxing, but it is worth remembering the name Floyd Mayweather snr picked out as the future of the fight game when his son decided his own time was up.
“You say, ‘Hey, what’s boxing going to be without Floyd?’ There’s going to be another Floyd coming in boxing,” Mayweather snr said.
You think so? “I know so, I’ve got one already. The kid I’m talking about, his name is Devin Haney.”
Devin Haney? How old is he? “Sixteen.”
That was seven years ago. Mayweather jnr was walking away with a perfect record – one he would improve to 50-0 when he came back to defeat Conor McGregor two years later – and 15 major world championships to his name. As for Haney, he was still months away from starting his professional career inside a Tijuana billiards hall with a debut that lasted 33 seconds.
Now 23, Haney is the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. For the second time in four months, he came to Melbourne and beat George Kambosos jnr for the WBC, WBA Super, IBF and WBO championships, this time improving his record to 29-0. At the same age, Mayweather was 25-0.
Devin Haney came to Australia and left with all the marbles.Credit:Getty
“I think you could see a decade with Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson sitting at the top of the business. I think he has that kind of talent,” promoter Lou DiBella said.
“[Kambosos] knew he was walking into a tornado, and he did it anyway, which is credit to him. You also saw what happened when he had a guy coming right at him and willing to throw caution to the wind. He hurt him pretty badly. That’s the greatness of a guy like this and a guy like Floyd Mayweather. You notice I’m using them in the same breath, and that’s not accidental.”
Every boxer who stood in the corner opposite Mayweather was perplexed as much as they were punished. Fans were forced to admire a man who declared he was “10 steps ahead of every fighter”. Haney has that same ability to make winning a round seem almost effortless, picking off opponents at will with a lethal jab and powerful right hand.
Haney’s rapid ascension to one of the most gifted pure boxers in a stacked lightweight division makes sense when you consider he was pulled out of school at 13 to make the boxing gym his academic institution.
He is the youngest man – and one of just eight – to become an undisputed champion since boxing’s four-belt era began in 2004. Twice he has come to Australia and left with all the marbles.
Haney has done what few others have by entering enemy territory to both win and defend world titles, and says he would be open to an Australian return for future fights. Conventional wisdom suggests his pair of Melbourne marvels will be the last of his bouts Down Under, with big money deals to be made in the 135-pound division under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
Australian boxing fans should take a moment to appreciate Haney for twice fighting on these shores, bringing a pair of undisputed title fights to Melbourne which attracted a collective figure of more than 50,000 people. Because like Manny Pacquiao when he came to Brisbane, Haney might become one of those you look back at and think: “Yeah, I saw him”.
It would be premature to put him on a pedestal alongside Mayweather, whose legacy is secure as one of the sport’s greatest of all time. But only a brave punter would write off Haney’s chances of one day finding a place on boxing’s Mount Rushmore.
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