At 25 years of age, Devin Haney is already racking up accomplishments that some fighters will never achieve in their careers.
"The Dream" became the WBC lightweight champion at 20 years of age and made four successful title defenses before capturing all four major world titles by defeating George Kambosos at age 23. After making a successful title defense against former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko, Haney will now attempt to capture gold in a new weight class when he challenges Regis Prograis for the WBC super lightweight championship on December 9.
WATCH: Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis, live on DAZN
Despite his success, he’s garnered much criticism from fans questioning just how good he truly is.
This is the case for and against Devin Haney being considered overrated.
Devin Haney is overrated
Although he has been a world champion since 2019, the path to acquiring those titles has been questioned by his skeptics. It all started when Haney claimed the vacant WBC interim lightweight title after beating Zaur Abdullaev. Although he was targeting a fight with WBC lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, Haney would be unable to land the fight. Instead, he would be elevated to full champion and earn the unfortunate tag of “E-mail champion” because he didn’t fight the reigning titleholder.
It was a difficult label to shake, made all the more challenging when he finally became the undisputed champion because it was more about who he beat than anything else.
After Teofimo Lopez stunningly dethroned Lomachenko to acquire the WBO and WBA titles to go along with his IBF championship, Lopez began calling himself the undisputed champion because, to many, Lomachenko was the “real” WBC champion.
BET NOW: Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis latest odds on DraftKings
But then Lopez was entangled in a complicated and often delayed deal with Triller for his first defense as the unified champion against George Kambosos and ultimately dropped the titles with a split decision loss to the Australian, who was a significant underdog heading into that fight.
Kambosos was expected to defend his titles against Lomachenko but when the Ukrainian fighter opted to defend his home country during a war, the door was open for Haney. The young fighter took full advantage and defeated Kambosos to become the undisputed champion.
However, the criticism has been that Haney had the path with the least resistance to acquire the titles as he didn’t have to face Lomachenko or Lopez. In his second defense of the undisputed titles he narrowly defeated Lomachenko in a fight that some deemed a robbery.
For these reasons, coupled with his perceived lack of power — he hasn’t secured a stoppage in seven fights — along with criticism that he lacks excitement in his fights, there’s a case for Devin Haney to be considered overrated when compared to his peers: Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia.
He has yet to have that definitive and dominant performance to silence his naysayers.
No, Devin Haney is underrated
It’s not Haney’s fault that Lomachenko opted not to entertain a fight with Haney and was stripped of his WBC title. It’s not Haney’s fault that Lopez fought when his health may have been compromised and ended up losing to a lesser fighter in Kambosos. It’s not Haney’s fault that he’s constantly sought after the toughest challenges, only to be ignored.
For the past four years, Devin Haney has openly challenged the best 135-pound fighters in the world. It’s not his fault that Lopez, Lomachenko, Garcia and Davis have all brushed him off. But rather than continue to be discouraged, Haney went after whoever had the titles and that happened to be Kambosos. He could have declined to face Kambosos in his backyard of Australia but he went into enemy territory and dominated Kambosos on two occasions to prove that he was the better fighter in less than ideal conditions.
MORE: Everything you need to know about Haney-Prograis
It’s not his fault that beating Kambosos to become the undisputed champion finally lured Lomachenko into a fight with him. And when the fight happened, Haney won a nip-and-tuck affair against arguably the greatest amateur fighter of all time.
What critics are overlooking is that Haney accomplished all of this before he turned 25.
He has never once shied away from the best competition in pursuit of capturing world titles. He sacrificed money and having a home-field advantage to do so. He bet on himself and it paid off. Other fighters at his age don’t normally do that. Ryan Garcia hasn’t come close to what Haney has accomplished while Gervonta Davis’s resume is paper thin by comparison. Teofimo Lopez fell short against Kambosos and has nobody to blame but himself, while Shakur Stevenson arrived at the weight class after Haney had outgrown it.
Even through all of this, Haney didn’t move up a weight class and challenge a lesser fighter. He didn’t call out the perceived “weakest” champion in Rolly Romero. He’s going after the hard-hitting WBC champion Regis Prograis whose only loss came by a narrow decision to former undisputed champion Josh Taylor in 2019.
It’s a massive risk but one that Haney has no problem taking. He’s not protecting his legacy with a soft touch. He’s challenging everyone he can to become the best in the world.
Again, he’s only 25 years old. Who else is doing this at his age?