Devin Miles Haney vs. Jorge Luis Linares Palencia & Martin Joseph Ward vs. Azinga Fuzile RBR.

It’s kinda sad how an otherwise superior performance can be degraded by such deliberate and obstructive tactics. Haney looked good, despite a few moments. Then came the constant, and shamefully frequent holding.

He won’t have many fans if he keeps that up.

 

I can see Haney giving Ryan trouble if Haney stays on his bike. I was just as disappointed by Ryan's footwork v. Campbell as I was Haney's response to getting rocked by Linares.

Both have holes in their games that the other could exploit. I agree that Ryan did not fold after getting floored, whereas Haney looks mentally battered by his being rocked.

The lasting damage to Haney might be more psychological than physical.

 

Credit to Linares, he was matched as the fall guy to build Haney here but he came on strong towards the end, that wasn't how the script was written.. the faded older guy should be blowing & clinching not guiding the younger man back to the corner after chin checking him

 

i said at the beginning of the thread that linares was going to test his chin and hopefully his heart. he tested both. he failed both.

 

Honestly bro, i think its an even matchup right now. We know who is the puncher, and we know who the boxer is, which makes for such a compelling fight.

 

he would have gotten all due respect if not for those shameful tactics.

 

I cant. Hes not a mentally strong fighter.

 

Haney didn’t impress. Good fighter. Yes. Good as advertised no.

 

jorge was not impressed either.

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I scored the fight for Haney, 8-4 rounds, 116-112 points. I gave Linares the 4th, and had him sweeping rounds 10-12. Per bet365, Haney came into the fight a 1/10 favourite, and Linares a 6/1 underdog. Haney is 13 years younger, had a 3-inch reach advantage (72" to 69"), and last fought 6 months ago, whereas Linares hadn't fought in over a year, and arguably hadn't had a serious fight in over 2 years. For the first three rounds, Haney worked a very sharp and powerful jab, while Linares struggled to time the jab to land countershots. Linares had started the fight working a quality jab, not nearly as effective as Haney's, but he got some purchase with it. However, by the 4th round, he stopped using his jab, and instead was throwing hooks more than anything else. Round 4 was close, Linares finally started letting his hands go some, and landed enough good punches to sneak the round. But Haney was now starting to mix in body shots to his attack, adding to the concerns of Linares. Round 5 reverted to type, as Linares started very slowly, but he did come on some towards the end of the round. Haney's jab continued to be very effective, but Linares' unwillingness to throw by this point seemed less due to difficulty timing the jab as it was simply waiting for counterpunch opportunities that were hardly there, due to Haney's excellent jabs and elite handspeed. In Round 6, as Haney was working inside, Linares did land a great L hook, his best punch of the fight to that point, followed by a R hook. But Haney continued to carry the fight with his jabs, mixing in good body work and uppercuts, all of his punches quick clean and precise, and he landed a good L uppercut in the final minute of Round 7. Haney began Round 8 with a hard snapping L hook from down low, and halfway through the round Haney threw two hard R hooks to body that had Linares against the ropes and holding on, and Linares by this point was noticeably slowing/fatiguing. Round 9 Linares was busier with shoeshine-type flurries, and halfway through the round he landed a good L hook to body, Haney countered with a L hook to body and a snapping L hook to chin, and Linares landed an excellent snapping L uppercut that slightly buckled Haney. Haney was busier and sat more on his punches, but Linares was happy enough that at the end of the round he did a little shimmy back to his corner.

Round 10 proceeded similarly, except in the final seconds Haney threw a jab + glancing overhand R and ducked, and as he came back up with both hands down low, Linares landed a [L hook to chin + CRUSHING short-distanced overhand R (the single best punch of the fight) + L hook to chin] combo at the bell that had Haney staggering/wobbling/duckwalking back to his corner. Haney was still very shaky at the start of Round 11, and early on Linares landed a [L to body + cuffing R and L to head] that didn't look like much but had Haney wobbling. Linares was now on the front foot, and he landed a wide/sweeping hard L hook and a good [L hook + R hook + L hook] combo to head that had Haney retreating, and then Linares landed a hard L jab to solar plexus that briefly doubled Haney over and had him holding onto Linares, and then after the break Linares landed a [L hook head + L hook body] that had Haney holding on again. This was all in the first 40 seconds of the round! Linares remained on the front foot, with Haney holding and surviving, but by the last minute of the round Haney had somewhat regained his senses, and he landed a double L uppercut and then a L hook before holding on again. The rest of the round was fought on more even terms, highlighted by Linares landing four straight overhand Rs as Haney was holding onto his left arm. Haney seemed more or less normal at the start of Round 12, and about halfway through the round, Haney landed a good L uppercut, followed by a Linares cuffing R + L combo and a Haney L hook, then a brief exchange and a Haney hold. Linares clearly won Rounds 11 and 12, but my overriding feeling was that Linares fought those rounds too cautiously, worrying about what was coming back while spending too much time looking to land the perfect right hand. If Linares had gone for broke, especially in the 11th when Haney was most concussed/staggered/compromised, I think Linares would have stopped him. But Haney literally held on to the end, and got the decision win.

This fight was an enormous step up for Haney, who showed elite boxing skills and elite handspeed while fighting almost entirely in the pocket, instead of using the ring. Haney landed 215/675 punches overall, including 136/366 power shots, whereas Linares landed 116/620 punches overall, including 91/372 power shots. Despite landing all those power shots, sitting down on many of them, and landing a number of them clean and flush, Haney never had Linares in serious trouble, and he never even cut Linares, despite all the scar tissue Linares has around his eyes. Haney can box with anyone, but his lack of elite power will probably catch up with him at some point. But he has a bright future, and is looking at a lucrative fight with Teofimo Lopez, who needs to beat Haney to truly claim the undisputed world lightweight title. (Lomachenko obtained the WBC title by bypassing Haney and having the WBC annoint him "franchise champion", a title Lopez had no right to inherit, as Mannix emphatically pointed out tonight postfight.) I love Jorge Linares, he's one of my favourite boxers, he has a fantastic backstory and a fan-friendly fighting style, and he has overcome his share of adversity to become a 3-division world champion. Prior to this fight, I wasn't sure how much he had left in the tank, but he showed he still belongs among the elite lightweights, and he should at minimum be able to get another couple high-level fights for some really good money.

 

LMAO there's a reason these "four queens" are weight bullying.. Suspect chins all round and will get KOd when they fight someone their own size who isn't shot to pieces