Devin Haney is ready to step-up his goal of dominating the sport as he prepares to face Antonio Moran in his DAZN debut in the US at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Saturday May 25, also live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Haney (21-0 13 KOs) is straight into action at the top of the bill having penned a co-promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA – and the unbeaten Lightweight sensation is planning to put on a devastating display to underline his World title credentials.
‘The Dream’ will have his hands full against Moran (24-3 17 KOs) who was edged out by former World ruler Jose Pedraza in June and returned to winning ways in December with a second round KO in Mexico – but Haney will not let his journey be derailed before he’s hit the heights he believes his talent can take him.
“There’s nothing to stop me from getting to number one, it’s just time,” said Haney. “Timing is everything and my time is going to come. I am only 20 years old, the other Lightweights out there better catch me now because I am only going to get stronger and faster so the top guys need to fight me now.
Boxing is something that I love so it doesn’t feel like a job to me, but the job is not done, I want to be a multi-weight champion and I want to rule the sport as a pound-for-pound star. When I am the face of boxing down the line, who knows what will happen, but right now those big goals are keeping me motivated.
“Getting the fights I want has been a challenge, a lot of guys have turned me down, saying there’s no point or not making enough money, so that’s been a real challenge. It’s me versus me, when I am in the gym I am so far ahead of a lot of guys that it’s me challenging myself, pushing myself, seeing how far I can go rather than seeing how far I can outrun another guy – how fast can I push myself?
The landscape is very interesting right now. A World title is very important to me, over money and anything else, being World champion is the ultimate goal. To be a World ruler at 20 would be history, the youngest in the game. My ring IQ at my age is crazy, I’m able to adapt and adjust, I’ve been in there with so many great fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, and I’m able to adjust.
When I first met Eddie and the Matchroom Boxing team it felt like the perfect fit. Me and my team spoke with Eddie about what we wanted and we were able to make it fit. Eddie recognizes me as a promoter, they are willing to work with me and build my brand and company at the same time.
A lot of other promoters didn’t recognize me as a promoter, they just wanted to give me money and buy me out. Matchroom Boxing see me as a top fighter that they want to get behind, I would be important elsewhere, but Eddie made it clear that they are going to push me and get behind me.”
Haney’s clash with Moran is part of a huge night of boxing in Maryland where rising Heavyweight Croatian talent Filip Hrgovic taking on Gregory Corbin on his US debut, more Heavyweight interest as Michael Hunter tackles Gregory Corbin and WBA World Super-Lightweight champion Jessica McCaskill looks to unify the division against WBA champion Anahi Sanchez.
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