Exclusive: Devin Haney can be one of the best 'in the history' of boxing
- Joe Hewlett
- 22 June 2022
The American became the first undisputed champion in the four-belt era and is being backed to retire with an incredible legacy by the WBC president.
Devin Haney outpointed George Kambosos Jr at the start of the month to unify the lightweight division.
Despite being the away fighter in Melbourne - Kambosos Jr's home turf - Haney produced a dazzling performance to outpoint him and add the WBA, IBF and WBO belts to his WBC crown.
It was even more impressive considering he was without trainer and father Bill Haney in preparation to the showdown in Australia.
While Haney will be forced to have a rematch against Kambosos Jr - due to the latter triggering his rematch clause - there are huge fights out there for him should he win once again.
The list of names include Vasyl Lomachenko, Gervonta 'Tank' Davis, Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez - who is making his debut at 140lbs later this year.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman continued his extensive interview with Planet Sport by hailing Haney's achievements.
"I'm super proud of him. He went to Australia; he travelled all the way to Australia. Without his father who has been with him every court every fight in the corner, due to visa reasons the father eventually made it (on) the day of the fight," Sulaiman exclusively told Planet Sport.
"But he had the guts to make it. He has been with the WBC since day one. He went through the whole process, youth champion, North American champion, international champion, silver champion, interim champion, world champion, and now he's the undisputed champion in the world.
"He was criticised he was played on social media, by Teofimo Lopez, by [George] Kambosos, by so many trying to degrade his status as champion.
"I spoke to him very, very often to him and to his father, and just said, be calm. You just believe in what you are. The time will come and it came and now he's the king of the world."
When asked on the potential of Haney, Sulaiman claimed he could become one of the all-time greats in the sport.
"He is still very young, we have got to be patient. Let's give him the opportunity to develop.
"What he has done is very, very good. Look at just the recent fights he defeated [Jorge] Linares, Kambosos - who had just defeated [Teofimo] Lopez so he's a great champion in the making for legacy.
"He has tremendous potential to be one of the best in the history of the sport."
