Via Matt Lieberman: Devin Haney and challenger Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr both successfully weighed on Friday for Saturday’s bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. 5’8″
Haney, 23, was literally 5’6″ taller than Jojo Diaz Jr in the head-to-head match, despite being only two inches apart. Devin looks much bigger in height and frame.
(Credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom or Melina Pizano / Matchroom)
Haney (26-0.15 KOs) weighs in at the light limit of 135 lbs and looks pretty good. It will be interesting to see how Diaz has built up the height, reach, speed, and boxing prowess that Haney possesses.
His opponent Jojo Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs) is slightly lighter at 134.4 lbs, and both fighters are in superb form for the title fight on DAZN.
Devin wants to fight for undisputed
For Haney, a win could open the door for him to face undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in early 2022.
As for former IBF featherweight superweight champion Jojo Diaz Jr, he says he wants to take on ‘regular’ WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next
Haney’s underweight ratio vs. Diaz Jr.:
Jessica McCaskill 146.4 vs Kandi Wyatt 146.2
Filip Hrgovic 246.8 vs Emir Ahmatovic 228.4
Montana Love 143.8 vs Carlos Diaz 139.8
Marc Castro 136.4 vs. Ronaldo Solis 130.8
Austin Williams 160 vs cash 160
Alexis Espino 167.4 vs Rodolfo Gomez Jr 168
Amari Jones 160 vs. Timothy Lee 159.4
Ricardo Sandoval 111.8 vs Carlos Buitrago 113
“I just feel better prepared, better skillsand I’m just a better fighter overall, and I’m going to show it off,” Haney told Fighthype after weighing. “There may be a bit of a push, but he won’t want to go too far.
“Just resting,” Haney said of what he plans to do through Saturday night. “The hard work is done. We had game plans together. Now we just need to rest, get some more food, and rehydrate all the way and get ready for tomorrow.
“I feel good right now. And I feel like I can fight now. I don’t even need to eat or drink anymore. I would put a lot on him,” Haney said.
Jojo Diaz says he wants to beat Haney with a punch of volume and pressure. He will try to overwhelm Haney with punches in the hopes of being able to overtake him on Saturday night.
Diaz said that if he had hurt Haney the way his last opponent Jorge Linares did last May, he would not have allowed him to get in his way out of the ring.
Linares, 36, has more speed, size and power than Jojo Diaz Jr., so it will be more difficult for him to repeat what he did against Haney.
Jojo Diaz has little choice but to try to break Haneyw’s ith volume and pressure punch because if he tries to get past him, it won’t work.
Haney wants to beat Jojo
“I will put a lot of *** in him. It will be a fun night. This is something I’ve always dreamed of fighting at MGM here. I’ve been here a lot of fights.
“I live here in Las Vegas, and this is the big stage for me. It’s time for me to perform, shine and do what I love. Get in there, put it on the wire and it looks good doing it.
“Of course, I am enjoying this. This is not the job for me; this is what i do. Fighting without fans is different, but now my team is here. My whole team will be here, my family, my fans. It is the time now.
“Now it’s time to get in there and perform, and that’s what I’m going to do. The franchise belt brings a lot of confusion to the light detachment and other detachments, but mainly the light detachment.
“So for us to get to the bottom of it, we might as well make [Haney vs. George Kambosos] fighting happens. When I’m fighting for the undisputed belts, I won’t look past Jojo. It was just a dream of mine.
“Whether it’s lightweight or if I’m fighting middleweight, whatever the case may be, I don’t want to fight for the Franchise title, and I don’t want to be the Franchise champion.
“I want to be a WBC champion. They can keep that. Me and my team call it ‘Duck Belt, ‘that’s what we call it. I always feel comfortable because I know the hard work is done. I trusted my team. Together we made a great game plan. We’ll do it, and you’ll see,” Haney said.
Skipping the WBC title is NOT an option for Devin
“Before last weekend, the world was saying that Teofimo Lopez was the best boxer in the world,” Haney told Against TV Hub. “He’s on the balance sheet, and he’s this guy, and he’s the best boxer at lightweight and will knock everyone down.
“I get that, and it’s been my dream since I was a kid to be a world champion,” Haney said when told the World Boxing Council was calling George Kambosos a ‘champion. undisputed lightweight world’, although he does not hold the WBC belt.
“I want to be undisputed, and that is what I will fight for,” Haney continued. “It’s been a long journey for me to get here and I won’t give it up so easily, even though people want me to. [vacate the WBC]. But this is something just bigger. It makes more sense to me.
“Style makes the fight. You never know until you get in there,” Haney said.
We’ll see if Haney can fight the Kambosos next if he beats Jojo Diaz on Saturday night. Kambosos feels like he’s sitting in the driver’s seat watching who he faces next, so it’s up to him to make the decisions.
Besides the winner of the fight between Haney and Diaz Jr. in the Kambosos lottery, there are also these fighters:
Gervonta Davis
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
Vasily Lomachenko
Ryan Garcia
