Devin Haney on Jorge Linares bout: 'This is my biggest test on paper'

WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney talks 1-on-1 with Kevin Iole about his May 29 matchup vs. veteran Jorge Linares.

Video Transcript

- Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole. Welcome to Yahoo Sports. On Saturday over at Mandalay Bay, where the flying fishes play, my next guest, Devin Haney, will return to action. He's going to fight what may be, I guess, the biggest test of his career when he takes on Jorge Linares. Dev, how's it going, my friend?

DEVIN HANEY: Oh, everything is going great.

KEVIN IOLE: So this is kind of a monumental night for you defending your title but also first fight without your dad, so your father kind of surprisingly, Bill Haney, retired as your trainer so--

DEVIN HANEY: No, no, no. My dad is still my coach. My dad has been coaching me all through camp, and my dad is still my head coach.

KEVIN IOLE: No, I thought he said he retired.

DEVIN HANEY: That's what he said, but I'm telling you what it is.

KEVIN IOLE: [LAUGHS] I just saw he said he retired, so I was like, what's going on? Well, good. So was it just-- was there ever a point where he wasn't training, or was it always-- he said that publicly and then just decided not to go forward with that?

DEVIN HANEY: Just in life and boxing, things happen, and you have some disagreements, whatever the case may be, but at the end of the day, we ironed it out. And here we are. May 29, you'll see everything that we've been working on. You'll see everything that we're made of.

KEVIN IOLE: Well, you guys have been a great combination to this point.

DEVIN HANEY: Thank you.

KEVIN IOLE: How do you feel? The bookmakers have you as a massive favorite over Linares. Eddie Hearn is pitching it as this is your biggest challenge. I guess if it was three years ago, that would actually be true. How do you see Jorge at this stage, and what kind of challenges to you?

DEVIN HANEY: I mean, I don't really pay attention to the bookies like that because sometimes they're wrong. A lot of time, they are right though, but at the end of the day, he is my biggest test on paper. He's been in there with the best of them. He's beat the best of them. He's been at the top level before.

I want to say he turned pro when I was at the-- I was four years old when he turned pro I think, so he has a lot of experience. But one thing that he's banking on is his experience, and he keeps saying that he has more experience. He has more experience. He has more experienced, but if experience played such a role, there would be no new championship. Boxing would never evolve.

It would be-- the sport would never evolve if experience mattered that much. At the end of the day, I said this before, [? here ?] come to a young guy who's on his way up and a guy who may be on his way down or whatever the case may be. I don't know. He may still have a lot in the tank. We just got to see on that one night, but I'm willing to do whatever it is to get the win on May 29.

KEVIN IOLE: I think if you're trying to talk comparison to you fighting Linares, in my way of thinking, it will be the welterweight fight from way back when when unbeaten Shane Mosley fought Vernon Forrest, and Vernon Forrest was able to use that jab so effectively. What do you think, in your mind, is like to neutralize his jab? Linares seems like he has that good jab, and while you have the speed and quickness, sometimes a really good jab would be the thing that would kind of--

DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, well, I feel like my jab is better than his. I feel like I have one of the best jabs in boxing. Linares has speed, of course, but I feel like I'm faster.

But we just got to see though. You never know until you get in there. I can say what's better, what's this, what's that, but it's always easier on the outside looking in. So I just got to get in there and see what he has.

KEVIN IOLE: You talk about him being fast. And I don't mean to diss him when I say that, but I don't think he's even close to you in speed. I wonder, though, like you're one of the fastest fighters out there. The only fighter I can even think of that would be kind of in that realm with you would be Gary Russell Junior. And I wonder, have you ever sparred with anybody or been in the ring with anybody where you felt like, man, their hands are faster? They're quick. [INAUDIBLE]

DEVIN HANEY: As crazy as it may sound it, I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, but, no, I don't think I've been in the ring with anyone that was faster than me.

KEVIN IOLE: What does that advantage give you then? Like, when you have that quickness, not only just evading shots, but getting your punches off, what are the advantages? Does quickness frustrate opponents?

DEVIN HANEY: You can be the fastest guy in the world, but timing is the key. If you don't have timing, then speed is nothing, so I would rather-- rather than be the fastest guy, I'd rather be the guy with the best timing, and knowing when to punch, and being able to punch, when you punch, it set you up, and that's really the key. Speed is really-- it means nothing if you don't know how to use it.

KEVIN IOLE: Absolutely. Well, you obviously know how to use it. Now you're in a division, which is my favorite division. I love the talent in that division, but I like the super lightweights, which are unifying the title and having that. You guys were sitting here.

I know you thought you'd probably be fighting Ryan Garcia. What did it say to you after Garcia beats Luke Campbell and then chooses not to fight you next? That was an eliminator to fight you essentially, and then he chooses not to do that. What did that say to you?

DEVIN HANEY: I mean, I don't really want to speak on Ryan Garcia. I know that he's going through a lot in life. It's just it's boxing, and when the time comes-- and the time will come. We're going to let him just heal and go through whatever he's going through, and I don't want to kick anyone while they're down. Hopefully the fight happens [INAUDIBLE], and I thank God every day for where I'm at, and where I'm at in life, and I'm healthy. And I look forward to May 29.

KEVIN IOLE: You're only 22 years old, but yet you've been at the top level for a couple of years, three years now, right? So you were really a young guy, so it's hard to say a 22-year-old would be impatient. But are you getting impatient to get the fights that Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor had or Charlo and Castano are getting? I mean, are you getting impatient to get those kind of fights, where-- right now people talk about your skills, but it's all on paper. And you said it yourself just a second ago. It's doing it inside the ring. Now are you getting a little impatient for that?

DEVIN HANEY: I wouldn't say I'm getting impatient because, like I said, I'm only 22 years old, so I know that I have a long road ahead of me. Of course, am I going to keep begging for the big fights? Of course, because that's how you get them. If you wait, then it's not going to just come to you, so I understand that.

But impatient? No, because I'm still having a big fight with Jorge Linares. There's still other big fights to be made. When the time comes, the time will come, and I'll be ready.

KEVIN IOLE: He dropped Lomachenko. I know that was a number of years ago, but gave Lomachenko, when Lomachenko was at the top of his game, a hard time through a lot of that fight before Lomachenko stopped him. Do you look at that fight at all and see things in him that impress you?

DEVIN HANEY: Yeah, he has a lot in the toolbox. He's a dangerous fighter. Well, he can be a dangerous fighter, but we just got to see like I said. I can say what he has, what he doesn't have, what he doesn't-- but then going there, go in the ring, and be totally surprised that on that night. So I'm going to just say he has everything or he doesn't have everything, so you never know. You got to just see. But I'm training for whatever he brings to the table to be ready for.

KEVIN IOLE: I know you are a really good blocker, but I think one of the things that your speed brings you, you talked about before. You'd rather have timing, which I agree. With timing and accuracy, there's speed. But your speed brings you some power too, right?

And I mean, for a guy, you have some pop behind you. Do you feel like that's going to carry as you fight Linares and as you fight these higher-level fighters who take shots better than the other guys? Do you feel like your power is going to be a differentiator at all?

DEVIN HANEY: Of course, because I'm only getting stronger. They say you grow into your [INAUDIBLE]. Well, I'm only 22, so of course I'm going to get stronger. My punches are going to get harder, and we'll see. But I'm excited to show on May 29 everything in the arsenal, everything that I have. I feel like people are going to be surprised with how good I really am.

KEVIN IOLE: You're a nice humble guy and everything when you're doing these kind of interviews, but I can tell after you beat Gamboa, there is a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. Some people were saying Gamboa was too experienced for you and whatnot, and you came out there. And after the fight, it seemed like it came out, like your competitiveness, and you said, see, I showed you. Do you feel that, and do you feel that finally whatever critics are out there of Devin Haney will be shut up after your performance on Saturday?

DEVIN HANEY: No, I don't think that they'll ever-- they're always going to find something to say. Some people will be silenced. Some people will still say, oh, well, it's not this person. And then when I beat that person, it's not this person. So that's why I'm not-- I don't-- I'm not fighting for the critics.

I'm not fighting for what the people say because I know that they're always going to say something. But I want to go in there, and I want to be the best that I can be. I want to go in there and put on the best performance that I can and move forward after.

KEVIN IOLE: Let's end it here. Last question, so I know the only thing that matters to you is Saturday night. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, you win that fight. You're minus 1,200 favorite. Let's assume you win that fight. Teofino Lopez has got George Kambosos, Gervonta Davis--

DEVIN HANEY: Bookies don't matter. The bookies don't matter. It doesn't matter what the odds say.

KEVIN IOLE: I'm assuming-- I'm just going to say, I'm assuming you win, so I'm not a bookie. But let's assume you win, which of the other guys do you want next? Would Lopez be the guy? Would Gervonta, who's going to win a 140 title, would you be-- who ideally would be your next opponent?

DEVIN HANEY: I don't know because-- I say this-- I say somebody and then the fight doesn't happen, so I'm just going to say-- and I know what you're looking for, but I'm going to just say I'm going to focus on May 29. I'm going to get the job done. And I want to go in there, and I want to look so good. And I want to-- I want this to be my best performance, so I want to just put all my focus into Jorge Linares right now.

KEVIN IOLE: Well, you're going to see that [INAUDIBLE].

DEVIN HANEY: After the fight, I'll come back on, and we can talk about what's next.

KEVIN IOLE: I'm going to raise my hand, and I'll ask that question on that night. Devin Haney, big fight on May 29 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas against Jorge Linares. You can catch that on DAZN. Devin, I appreciate you so much. Thanks a million, and good luck to you.

DEVIN HANEY: Thank you, Kevin.