“At 147 you’ll see if I can really hit”

Devin Haney says his fight with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. will show if he can “hit harder” at full weight for the 147-lb division on November 22 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh.

Haney (32-0, 16 KOs) sounded confident during an interview this week, talking about how his clash against Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) will allow him to prove his doubters wrong. They believe he can’t hit and can’t take a shot.

Haney’s doubters point out that he has been hurt repeatedly by Ryan Garcia and Jorge Linares. The 24-year-old Norman Jr. is bigger and stronger than those fighters. He is also a deadly finisher when his opponents are hurting. So, if Haney is hurt, he won’t be able to get out of trouble like he did against Ryan and Linares.

The Power Question returns

“They say I can’t punch. Now at 147, we’ll see. We’re going to see if I hit harder, if I can take hits better,” Devin Haney told Ariel Helwani’s channel. YouTube. “That’s why this fight is so important to me, because they say I can’t block a left hook.”

Six years without a stoppage

People say that Haney can’t hit, because the reality is, he can’t. He has a 46.88% OR rateand he hasn’t scored a knockout in six years since he stopped Zaur Abdullaev in the fourth round September 13, 2019. Haney hasn’t knocked anyone out in his last 10 fights since. It is quite a dry time. If Devin had power, he would have shown it in the last six years, right?

The weight Haney has packed on for this camp probably won’t add enough power to make him a knockout threat. It would be risky for Haney to try to beat Norman Jr. to KO because he will have to be quiet to sit on his punches. That’s a risky thing to do against a knockout artist like Brian Jr.

If Haney beat his middleweight sparring partner in this camp, Troy Isley (15-0, 5 KOs), it still means nothing because he himself lacks power.

Why Haney’s style won’t save him

“We saw in Brian Norman’s last fight that he knocked the guy (Jin Sasaki) out cold with a left hook. They say I can’t punch. We got a guy who’s strong, who can hit. For what they say, he’s kryptonite for my style,” says Devin.

It’s not really so much about Norman Jr. wrong for Haney’s fighting style. It’s more about Norman Jr. is too powerful for him because his punch resistance is not up to par for someone of his power level.

There are certain fighters that a fighter with a weak mandible, like Haney, he shouldn’t fight. You put Devin in with a slow, old guy like Jose Ramirez or Regis Prograis, and he’s in his element. But match Haney up against Ryan Garcia or Norman Jr., and he’ll crumble. He will be vaporized on impact. That is the reality of it.

“That’s why this fight is such an important fight for me to turn unbelievers into believers, to prove the doubters and the naysayers wrong,” Haney said.

Can Haney handle true power?

This fight will likely cement the fact that Devin doesn’t belong at 147 and needs to stay away from anyone with power for the rest of his career. His father, Bill Haney, did a good job of maneuvering him. But in this case, it’s the wrong type of fighter for Haney to fight.

It doesn’t have to be the end of the world for Haney after November 22nd. Bill just needs to refocus by keeping himself away from these fighters:

• Ryan Garcia
• Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
• Lewis Crocker
• Gary Antoine Russell
• Teofimo Lopez
• Ernesto Mercado
• Keyshawn Davis
• Liam Paro
• Subriel Mathias
• Shakhram Giyasov

Tom Galm’s: Reality Awaits in Riyadh

November 22 will reveal what’s in store for Devin’s ability to survive in the treacherous waters at 147 while dealing with the many shark-like predators that will prey on him. Again, Norman Jr. is just one of many power punchers in the welterweight division.

Getting destroyed by him would be a clear sign that Devin should return to his original weight of 140 and possibly even 135. It would be pointless for him to stay at 147 if he was defeated by Norman Jr. get slaughtered as many boxing fans predict.