Devin Haney passed his toughest test
How would Devin Haney fare in his toughest test to date against Jo Jo Diaz?? Would he be looking ahead to a possible undisputed title fight versus George Kambosos Jr.? Would he make the same mistakes Teofimo Lopez did last weekend when he fought Kambosos?
The answer to the latter two questions was a definitive no, and Haney passed the test with flying colors and put on the best performance of his career in beating the former junior lightweight champion and 2012 Olympian via unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 116-112) to successfully retain the WBC title. DAZN News scored the fight 117-111 for Haney.
With the win, "The Dream" is ready for Kambosos.
"Let's do it for all the belts. The real undisputed," Haney said in his post-fight interview.
The challenger put up decent opposition against the WBC champion but lost clearly and unanimously on the judges decision.
Notoriously known as a slow starter, Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) came right out and made Diaz realize he wasn't coming in to coast to a win and wanted to finish him. The 23-year-old showed everything in the arsenal. The jab was exceptional; his footwork was superb, and he was throwing power shots at will, and Diaz wasn't doing much about it. It seemed that Diaz was stuck in neutral and couldn't get going.
Diaz (32-2-1, 15 KOs) finally started to get it going in the middle rounds and made it a fight. He said he was going to bring the dog out of Haney. He went on the inside, pounded the body, and made things difficult for Haney.
Haney didn't circle and ride the bicycle. The 23-year-old stayed in the pocket, fought fire with fire, and didn't back it up. It almost caught up to him in the 12th and final round as Diaz stunned Haney with a left hand. But, Haney stayed composed, landed a short uppercut, and they fought to the final bell.
Diaz believed he had a chance in the championship rounds, when he started brightly at the start of the 12th, but said obstructed vision stopped him from exploiting the moment.
“I had him hurt at the start of the twelfth round but the f—ing Vaseline got in my eyes,” he told DAZN's Chris Mannix after the fight.
“I was trying to clean that up so I could get him with a good shot again, but couldn’t get it done.”
Despite the loss, the 29-year-old said he would continue to fight after a strong performance.
“I feel like I belong with the best and I’m going to keep on challenging the best until my career is over,” explained Diaz.
In terms of what's next, Haney made it clear that he would go to Kambosos' native Australia for the chance to make history.
"I'll go to Jupiter if I have to," Haney said.
Undisputed
A 2022 undisputed lightweight clash is on the cards.
Eddie Hearn believes that George Kambosos Jr. would be the main draw in any undisputed clash with Devin Haney.
Kambosos won the WBC ‘franchise’, WBA, WBO and IBF belts from Teofimo Lopez Jr. an upset last weekend in New York, while Haney successfully defended his own WBC title against challenger JoJo Diaz on Saturday night.
That clears the way for an undisputed clash, with both fighters seemingly keen to face each other next year.
"He's a very confident young man,” Matchroom head Hearn said of Kambosos to IFL TV .
“We can make an offer to Lou DiBella, Peter Khan and George Kambosos to stage the fight.
“They can make an offer or we can be smart, work together to go out and maximise this fight. Doesn't have to be in Australia, could be in the US or the Middle East.
"It's an undisputed fight so a lot of people want to pay for it, but I do like the idea of staging an event in Australia and he is the A-side. We accept that, he's just had a fantastic win.
"Devin will go wherever he's needed to be undisputed, we will make sure everything's right for him and he gets the best deal. That's the natural fight and it's one that must happen next."
Undercard
McCaskill KOs Wyatt
Undisputed world welterweight champion, American Jessica McCaskill, successfully defended her world titles, knocking out Canadian Kandi Wyatt in the seventh round, in one of the main fights of the “Devin Haney vs. Joseph Díaz ” card, which took place this Saturday at the Grand Garden Arena, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
McCaskill was dominating Wyatt in the seventh round, when Referee Celestino Ruiz decided to intervene to avoid Kandi sustaining further punishment. The official time was 19 seconds of the seventh round.
With this victory, McCaskill raised her record to 11-2, with 4 knockouts, while Wyatt left the ring with a 10-4, with 3 knockouts.
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