On this episode of the Knockdown senior writers Chris Mannix and Greg Bishop are discussing the similarities between Devin Haney and Floyd Mayweathter.
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00:00 It made me start to think about Floyd Mayweather
00:03 and the kind of lane that Devin Haney is trying to fill.
00:06 You covered Floyd Mayweather a lot in your career.
00:09 Do you think that Haney is on a Mayweatherian path?
00:13 This is The Knockdown,
00:18 where we talk about the biggest stories in boxing.
00:21 I'm Chris Maddox, joined by my colleague, Greg Bishop.
00:24 But Greg, I want to talk about Devin Haney,
00:26 because last weekend we saw a masterful performance
00:30 from Devin Haney just blanking Regis Prograde,
00:34 dominating a guy that I thought was at the top
00:37 of 140-pound division from start to finish.
00:39 And it got me thinking about where Devin Haney is
00:43 at this point in his career.
00:44 25 years old, just sold out the Chase Center
00:47 in San Francisco, headlining his second straight pay-per-view.
00:51 It made me start to think about Floyd Mayweather
00:54 and the kind of lane that Devin Haney is trying to fill.
00:58 You covered Floyd Mayweather a lot in your career.
01:01 Do you think that Haney is on a Mayweatherian path?
01:05 - Absolutely.
01:07 And you know, the thing I would say about Haney
01:08 that really stands out to me,
01:10 and this sounds kind of weird about a guy
01:12 who I think is consensus top 10, top five, pound for pound.
01:17 He's got a legitimate claim at one even.
01:20 But for some reason, he tends to get underrated.
01:22 You know, this performance to me was a reminder to boxing,
01:25 with like the entire world of it.
01:27 That this guy has skills, that he's tough to hit,
01:30 that he has strategy and game plan
01:32 and technical proficiency.
01:34 And if a guy who's, you know, really well respected
01:39 can still be underrated, that would be him.
01:42 That's why I love the Mayweather comparison
01:43 that you laid out, because to me,
01:45 I think there's a lot of similarities.
01:46 I think Floyd's style as he got older in his career
01:50 came to be more appreciated.
01:52 I think he reminded people in boxing that defense is okay
01:55 and that not every fight has to be a bloody war.
01:58 And I think that you're seeing a similar trajectory here.
02:01 - Yeah, I think that Regis Progre laid out
02:05 a lot of the reasons that people
02:07 don't really like Devin Haney.
02:08 And the biggest is because there's a perception
02:12 that he had things easy,
02:14 that he came from a little bit of money,
02:16 that his dad gave him whatever he needed.
02:19 It didn't come up the ways that a Mayweather did,
02:22 or more specifically a Progre did.
02:24 Some of them didn't start boxing until he was 17 years old,
02:27 had to have multiple jobs coming up,
02:29 dealt with everything that happened
02:31 during Hurricane Katrina.
02:32 But the reality is, Devin Haney is really good
02:35 and he is on that Mayweather path,
02:36 because the numbers, they back it up.
02:38 You look at what Mayweather was at age 25.
02:41 He was 28 no before he turned 26.
02:44 He had won one world title.
02:46 He defended 11 times against some notable opposition,
02:50 but he had not yet headlined a pay-per-view.
02:52 At age 25, Devin Haney is 31 and 0.
02:55 He has won now five world titles.
02:58 He has been in 10 world title fights,
03:01 if you include his first interim title fight
03:03 a few years ago.
03:04 And he's now headlined a couple of pay-per-views
03:06 and put butts in the seats.
03:08 There was more than 16,000 fans
03:10 that were attending that fight at Shays Center on Saturday.
03:13 These weren't, you know, this wasn't a papered building.
03:16 These were paying customers at the Shays Center
03:18 that came to see Devin Haney.
03:19 So that's another feather in his cap.
03:21 If he was gonna continue on that path,
03:23 like what's the next step there?
03:24 How does he get to that true Floyd Mayweather level
03:28 and kind of build himself even further?
03:30 - Well, that's what I love about his career
03:32 and where it's at right now.
03:34 I mean, you want a response to the cushy childhood
03:38 or slightly more cushy childhood.
03:40 It's there in the resume and in the ring.
03:43 I mean, this is a guy who fought
03:44 Vasily Lomachenko last year.
03:46 And I thought that fight was pretty close,
03:47 but there's no shame in winning a close fight
03:49 against that guy.
03:50 This is a guy who took on Pro Grey,
03:52 who stylistically was supposed to be difficult for him,
03:55 who was supposed to be a bigger guy
03:57 and pretty much blanked him.
03:58 I mean, Devin Haney hasn't run from anybody
04:00 and that division and all the divisions around it
04:03 are totally stacked.
04:04 I mean, Pro Grey had a very close fight with Josh Taylor.
04:07 You look at all the different options.
04:10 And I think, you know,
04:10 we're talking about a Mayweather path,
04:12 but I think the top end of it is higher
04:14 because there are so many guys in and around those divisions
04:18 that Devin Haney can fight and he'll go to Australia.
04:22 He'll go back to Australia.
04:24 He will fight Vasily, you know,
04:26 in a tough technical matchup.
04:27 You know, he will shrug off Pro Grey
04:30 when he's trying to press him.
04:31 And I just think the options there are incredible.
04:34 And I hope that we take the time to appreciate
04:37 that Devin Haney does these things.
04:38 And maybe he's not knocking every guy out,
04:41 but that's, boxing is in only one way.
04:43 I think the top end of where this goes could be,
04:46 you know, multiple division champion.
04:48 Maybe he's up to 147 by the end of his career.
04:52 I think you're looking at some classic fights
04:54 and I hope that we can appreciate the style
04:56 with which he wins them.
04:58 - Yeah, and a memo to other writers out there
05:01 that are writing about the Lomachenko fight,
05:04 stop using the word controversial.
05:06 It really wasn't controversial
05:08 unless your last name is Lomachenko or Clemus.
05:12 'Cause that's the reality of it.
05:14 It was a close fight that Devin Haney won.
05:16 When you have the best against the best,
05:19 more often than not,
05:20 you are going to see guys in close fights.
05:23 And I think you're right, Devin Haney,
05:25 he wants all the smoke.
05:26 So whether it's against Ryan Garcia at 140,
05:29 Teofimo Lopez at 140,
05:31 somebody like Terrence Crawford or Bout Sanchez at 147,
05:34 he's gonna continue to chase the very best fights out there.
05:36 That's only gonna burnish that legacy.
05:38 This weekend, we've got another example
05:41 of the best against the best.
05:42 You've got Bam Rodriguez, two division title holder,
05:45 the runner up for fighter of the year in 2022.
05:49 He is gonna take on Sonny Edwards.
05:50 Now, Sonny Edwards is not a well-known commodity in the US,
05:54 but he is undefeated.
05:56 He has pound for pound level skill.
05:58 And this is going to be, I think, Greg,
06:00 another chess match type of fight
06:03 that is going to come down
06:04 to maybe the final couple of rounds.
06:06 Who do you like in this matchup,
06:07 Bam Rodriguez or Sonny Edwards?
06:09 - You know, I like Bam, but I also think,
06:11 like you're saying, that this is gonna be a closer fight
06:14 than people anticipate.
06:15 I mean, one thing to love about Bam
06:17 is the style with which he fights.
06:18 I mean, it's kind of the opposite
06:20 of what we've been talking about already.
06:21 I sort of see this one being action-heavy,
06:23 engagement-heavy, you know, war-ish,
06:26 fight of the year type candidate.
06:28 And I'm very excited to see it.
06:29 But, you know, so far,
06:30 everything we've seen from Bam Rodriguez
06:32 is that he can really fight.
06:34 - When it comes to Bam and Sonny, two things jump to mind.
06:37 One, how well-recovered is Bam Rodriguez from his last fight?
06:42 He won his last fight back in the sprint,
06:45 but in that fight, he suffered a broken jaw,
06:47 and he has not started sparring,
06:49 or didn't start sparring until November.
06:51 That's a bit of a red flag.
06:52 Now, Sonny Edwards is not a power puncher,
06:54 but if I'm Sonny Edwards,
06:55 I'm thinking about testing that chin pretty early
06:58 to see how Bam's punch resistance is coming at this fight.
07:02 What works against Sonny Edwards, though,
07:03 is that he's the more pure boxer.
07:05 He's gonna use the entirety of the ring.
07:07 He's gonna try to stick and run,
07:08 and that could be an effective style to a certain extent.
07:11 But if you're the UK fighter,
07:15 and you're coming to the US fighter's backyard,
07:18 and Bam Rodriguez is from Texas,
07:19 but it's gonna be a pro-Bam crowd in Arizona on Saturday.
07:22 You're already kind of bumping up against a wall there.
07:25 You're already gonna have to do some work
07:28 in the eyes of the judges.
07:29 That's why I think it's gonna be really hard
07:31 for Sonny Edwards to get a decision
07:34 against Bam Rodriguez in the US.
07:36 He's gonna have to win eight of these rounds clean.
07:39 Not close, clean, where there's no doubt
07:42 in order for him to get a decision
07:43 on these judges' scorecards,
07:45 because he's not a power puncher.
07:46 Only four knockouts on his resume.
07:48 Doesn't have that kind of a fight-changing pop
07:53 where he can land those types of shots.
07:54 I think it's gonna be a real challenge
07:55 for him to get in Arizona in the US.
07:57 But look, to the rich, to the winner, go the spoils.
07:59 The winner of this fight, if you're Bam Rodriguez,
08:01 it's Juan Francisco Estrada.
08:03 Big fight at 115.
08:04 If you're Sonny Edwards, it's Chocolatito.
08:06 Big fight at 115.
08:08 These guys are both gonna make a lot of money,
08:10 but there's a lot of line, a lot more money to be made
08:13 down the line against some of those bigger fighters.
08:16 - Yeah, absolutely.
08:16 And one of the reasons that I like
08:18 this stylistic match-up here
08:20 is everything you just laid out.
08:22 You talk to boxers who have taken that kind of shot,
08:24 who have broken a bone in their face,
08:27 a bone that's gonna get hit,
08:28 and they don't necessarily know how they're gonna react
08:31 when it comes to the first fight back.
08:32 And so I think the strategy you laid out is perfect
08:36 in that he can test it early.
08:38 He just might not like the answer.
08:40 He might like it a lot, or he might say,
08:42 "Okay, this guy's totally fine,"
08:44 which means he's gonna be pressing me all night,
08:46 which means he'll be the one doing a lot of the hitting.
08:49 - Gonna be a good one, no doubt.
08:51 Glendale, Arizona, Saturday, live on DAZN.
08:53 Greg, appreciate it, man.