Devin Haney doesn’t know exactly what it would take during inevitably complicated negotiations to finalize a deal for him to fight Gervonta Davis.
The former undisputed lightweight champion is absolutely sure, though, that a bout between those unbeaten contemporaries would be bigger than any other bout that can be made in the sport. That’s why Haney didn’t hesitate when he was asked during an open workout recently at the Top Rank Gym to identify the fighter who would help him make the most money on the largest stage possible.
“Tank Davis,” Haney told a group of reporters. “I think that’s the biggest fight in boxing, to be real. You know, we all know what kinda draw he is. You know, we know what kinda draw I’m becoming. And I think it’s a huge fight.”
Since Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) vacated the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO lightweight titles, it is believed Baltimore’s Davis would need to move up from 135 pounds to 140 again to fight him. Haney would become a more appealing potential opponent for Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) if he were to beat Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) when they fight for Prograis’ WBC super lightweight title Saturday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Davis’ last fight, a seventh-round knockout of rival Ryan Garcia on April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, generated approximately $22.8 million in ticket sales and reportedly 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. The WBA secondary lightweight champion’s past four fights have been contested at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds, but he moved up to 140 pounds to battle Mario Barrios, whom Davis dropped three times and defeated by 11th-round technical knockout in June 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The 29-year-old Davis doesn’t have a fight scheduled, though he is expected to remain in the lightweight division when he returns to the ring early in 2024.
While Davis would be his highest-profile opponent, Haney is also interested in fighting Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) and another opponent Davis knocked out, WBA super lightweight champ Rolly Romero (15-1, 13 KOs).
“We know Rolly, but I don’t know where Rolly been at,” Haney said. “I ain’t seen Rolly lately. But that’s another fight to be made in the 140 [division]. But like I said, I gotta get past Regis Prograis and then we go from there. But I wanna make the biggest fights happen, the biggest money fights happen. You know, I became undisputed, made history, defended my belts, you know, became the youngest to do so. But now it’s time for me to make the biggest fights happen. Like I said, my next fight ought to be back in the Bay Area or we going to Saudi [Arabia].”
Prograis, of Katy, Texas, and Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, will square off in a DAZN Pay-Per-View main event at the home arena of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. This four-fight show will begin at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and is listed at a suggested retail price of $59.99 for DAZN subscribers and $74.99 for non-subscribers.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.