WBC lightweight champion of the world Devin Haney is set to earn a whopping $3 million in his title defense against mandatory challenger Jorge Linares as they face off on 15th May.
The report about Haney’s purse from the Linares fight was first reported by Mike Coppinger of The Athletic on Twitter. The 22-year-old had pocketed $2 million in his previous title defense against Yuriorkis Gamboa in November last year, where Haney came out with a unanimous decision win and was also the last time he was seen in action in the ring.
Devin Haney to defend his WBC belt for the third time against 35-year-old Linares
The Linares faceoff will mark “The Dream”s third straight title defense for his coveted green and gold belt, the first one being against Alfredo Santiago in November 2019, just two months after Havey clinched the vacant title with an easy 4-round win against Zaur Abdullaev at the Hulu Theater, New York City.
A three-division world champion, Jorge Linares has formerly held the WBA and WBC belts at 135, as well as the WBC featherweight and the WBA super featherweight titles.
The 35-year-old Venezuelan, nicknamed “The Golden Boy”, made his last appearance in the squared circle in February last year against Carlos Morales, registering a 4th round win.
The current scenario in lightweight
Devin Haney currently holds the WBC belt, while Ryan García is the interim champion of the sanctioning body and will square off against each other to unify the green and gold belt at some point.
On the other hand, Gervonta “Tank” Davis holds the WBA (Regular) lightweight title while Teófimo López is the WBA (Super), WBO, and IBF titleholder alongside being the WBC’s franchise champion, who defended his IBF belt against Vasyl Lomachenko in October last year.
Haney recently hinted that his focus is on winning all belts at 135, and also suggested that his path to glory doesn’t necessarily require squaring off against Teófimo López.
The unified champion also claimed that Haney must face WBA interim lightweight champion Rolando Romero before challenging him for the undisputed crown. However, Haney claims he’s already earning “more money than fighting Teófimo López”, calling his proposal of a Romero fight “ridiculous”.
Moreover, Haney also asserted that both López, García, and also Davis are avoiding a fight against him.
You guys (López, Davis, García) only have a matter of time to keep ducking me. Pretty soon you guys are going to be cornered and you’ll have to fight me. So be prepared because pretty soon you’ll be facing me,” Haney told Behind The Gloves.
Haney’s words seemingly turn out to be a reality as the young pugilist has jumped one million in his fight purse between his upcoming fight and his previous title defense. However, a location for his contest against Linares is yet to be decided.
