‘The Dream’ Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) is all set to make his welterweight debut with a showdown against WBO champion, Brian Norman Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) on Saturday night. As Haney prepares to potentially become a three-division champion at The Ring IV: Night of the Champions card, Roy Jones Jr believes that he is gearing up for what might most probably be one of the toughest fights of his career.
In an interview with Ring Magazine, Jones Jr expressed his concerns about the fight, noting that he is conflicted about how it will turn out.
“It’s a tough fight that I really don’t want to see happen. I know both fighters, and I like both fighters a lot. They are both remarkable individuals, and I love and respect both of them. They both look up to me. I used to train Devin at one point. I can’t sit here and bash my guy. With Norman, I’ve talked to him a couple of times, and he reminds me of the mentality that I had back in my day,” he said.
Haney’s last tango inside the ring was in May, when he fought Jose Ramirez at Times Square. Norman, on the other hand, was seen dishing out an impressive fifth-round knockout against Jin Sasaki while defending his title in June.
Both fighters have vastly different fighting styles too, as evident in Norman’s plans to decimate Haney on fight night. Moreover, with 22 knockouts in 28 fights, Norman also has a higher KO ratio than Haney.
Jones Jr feels that, as a guy on the rise, Norman is a far hungrier fighter than Haney, making him a dangerous opponent. And with Haney hoping for a comeback, a loss will prove catastrophic to his career.
“The pressure is on Haney. However, I like both guys, so I am not going to elaborate much more on the fight. I’m in the middle of it, so I can’t really say too much,” he said.
“It’s Not Enough”
There’s no denying that fans are expecting a Tom and Jerry-esque fight from Haney once again. However, with Turki Alalshikh looking for an explosive showdown, one could expect him to hopefully have a change of pace this time around. But the question still remains, will Norman’s raw power prove problematic to Haney? Former boxer Sergio Mora does not feel so.
“The thing about power is it’s not enough when it comes to elite boxers. Devin Haney is an elite boxer with one of the best jabs in boxing. It’s the chin that is really questionable on Devin Haney,” Mora said while speaking to DAZN Boxing. “What Devin Haney are we going to get? Are we going to get the master boxer that we saw, the vulnerable chin that we saw against Ryan Garcia, or the skittish Devin Haney that we saw in his last fight against Jose Ramirez? These are the questions that are going to get answered.”
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