By Craig Daly: Mickey Bey says undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney is willing to take on WBA ‘regular’ 135-lb champ Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in his next fight after his October rematch against former unified champion George Kambosos Jr.
There will be massive interest in a fight between the unbeaten champions Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) and Tank Davis (27-0, 15 KOs), and a lot of money to be made for both guys.
For the time being, Haney is stuck having to give a rematch with Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs) in October, and there’s nothing he can do about that unless he can pay the Aussie to step aside.
Given how easily the 23-year-old Haney defeated Kambosos Jr last month on June 5th in Melbourne, Australia, it’s likely he’ll not bother trying to get him to step aside.
It’s better just to get the Kambosos rematch over with, and then move on. Kambosos’ career will likely be pretty much done as an A-list fighter after his second loss to Haney.
He’s a modern-era example of a one-hit-wonder, a fighter that took capitalized on a situation against an injured & ring rusty Teofimo Lopez last November to capture a handful of titles.
Haney would fight Tank next
“He would fight Tank next. I heard them going back and forth. Devin would fight him next after this fight [with George Kambosos Jr],” said Mickey Bey to Fighthype. “He wouldn’t say, ‘Let me get a tune-up or let me get an easy opponent.’
“Nah, he would fight next, as long as the money is right. Believe me, he’d fight him. I would put that as the second biggest fight in boxing after those two,” said Bey about Tank vs. Haney being the second biggest fight in the sport behind the undisputed welterweight match between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
October… 🤲🏽👑
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 2, 2022
“The only reason I give those two the biggest fight is that they’ve been around longer,” said Bey. “They’ve been dominant for so long, and they’re in their mastery stage of boxing. These dudes are still going to get better, Tank and Devin because they’re so young.”
“It was a great fight for the fans,” Bey said about Tank Davis’ recent title defense against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on May 28th. “Rolly made it to where he had people on the edge of their seats, but it was strategic.
“Tank knew that he ain’t going to be able to do this for so many rounds. He’s going to go bombs away in the first few rounds, but he’s eventually going to make a mistake and I’m going to catch him. But Rolly kind of overachieved in that fight.
“Even though he got knocked out, for him to have that little of fights [it was a big accomplishment to perform the way he did in his loss to Tank Davis].
“Him [Rolly] being awkward like that would throw fighters off. I think that played into his favor because he was so awkward that Tank because Tank wasn’t getting that look in sparring, especially with the type of power and strength that Rolly got.
“Rolly did go in there to fight, I give him that. He talked a lot, but you can’t say he didn’t back it up because his intentions were to go in there and win. He was coming to Tank, and he was landing some punches on Tank.
“He [Rolly] just wasn’t experienced enough, and he made rookie mistakes. Against a big puncher like that [Tank Davis], you don’t get greedy. There’s such a term of getting ‘greedy’ and he got greedy in there.
“Tank was, ‘Okay, this dude is getting greedy.’ He seen it and he capitalized on it, but it was a real good fight though. He [Rolly] didn’t have the experience, and he kind of started falling apart.
“There’s such a thing in boxing as ‘endurance mentally.’ Sometimes trying to keep up with a fighter mentally will tire a fighter out mentally, and that starts coming into play.
“Because he started missing his stuff, you could see Tank kind of playing and having fun, moving around, getting his groove, getting warm and everything.
“As soon as that started to happen, you could see him sitting down and taking the half steps back to get out of the way of the looping shots.
“Like I said, a lot of them weren’t straight. With Rolly, that played into his favor being that awkward because you don’t know what angle that punch is coming from.
“When he was hitting Tank, it was some unorthodox stuff that he was hitting him with. It wasn’t a bad game plan. He fought well considering his lack of experience. Up until the knockout, you could say it was a good fight.
“I give the knockout an A+. Overall, I’ll say a B [grade for Tank Davis in his victory over Rolly] because I know he could probably do better than that.
“He fought a real good fight. You got to question whether that would be enough to do something with Devin or Shakur, with Lomachenko. You got to look at it like that. Tank is the kind of fighter that can adjust well, and people forget how good of a boxer he is,” Bey said.
Tank’s power overshadows his talent
“His knockout punch overshadows his talent, so people forget that he can move, he’s got good footwork, he’s got speed, he throws good combinations, and he’s a good thinking fighter because it takes talent to be able to counter people like that,” said Bey.
“That’s strategic. That’s something that you’ve got to set up. Tank is a smarter fighter than people think. If Tank were to fight at 140, I see him beating [champion] Josh Taylor, and I stand on that.
“I was arguing with people a year ago on this. They were going back and forth. He’ll win at 140 as well. His fights that I want to see is him against Devin Haney.
“Those types of fights where he’s not going to step into punches and fall in to where they’re giving you that uppercut or that big left hand. I want to see him in with those.
“But other than that, Tank is a hell of a fighter and one of my favorite fighters in the game as far as who I’m going to tune in and watch.
“I don’t watch too many fights. If it’s a fight where I know a fighter is going to win, I don’t even watch it. But he’s one of those guys that is an elite talent. I’m going to watch him, I’m going to watch Devin, I’m going to watch Shakur, I’m going to watch Boots, and I’m going to watch Benavidez.
“I’m even going to watch Canelo and watch Bivol, Chocolatito, Bam Rodriguez, and Crawford. I can’t wait for that fight [Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford]. That’s going to be an amazing fight,” said Bey.
Devin doesn’t lose rounds in sparring
“I heard about it, but I’m sure it went the way of all Devin’s sessions go,” said Bey when asked if he saw the sparring session between Haney and Shakur Stevenson.
“I already know how it probably went. Literally, I haven’t seen anybody win a round against Devin and this is real talk. This ain’t no me gassing it up. I can’t think of nobody beating him in a round, even in his worst day.
“Devin, if he keeps doing what he’s doing and living outside the ring, that’s what’s going to be the main thing. I can put in a way better than I did against Kambosos because of the way I live outside of the ring.
“If Devin can keep that up, and I know for a fact he will. He’s not into those activities. He’s not trying to be a street dude or none of that. He’s going to keep that up, and keep getting better and better.
“Mind you, he’s still super young. Devin will be able to keep fighting the same way and have a long career as long as he wants. He’ll be able to fight up until those later years because he’s not taking a lot of punishment, and the way he’s living outside of the ring is the number one thing.
“All that stuff plays a part. So by him being smart, by him hitting and not getting hit, by him living and being smart outside of the ring, all of those things carry him long.
“They can go another 15 more years, Devin and Shakur. But Tank can go another ten or so years number one because nowadays, they have so much information about the body, which helps,” said Bey.
