Will Devin Haney Stomp Out Franchise Non-Sense at Lightweight?
For nearly three full years, the supremely talented lightweight fighter Devin “The Dream” Haney (27-0, 15 KO’s) has had his reign as champion questioned on two fronts. The first charge of his critics is the fact that he did not win his WBC 135-pound strap in the ring. Division rival Teofimo Lopez used to delight in calling Haney the ‘e-mail champion.’ While it’s true that The Dream did not fight for his title, this is not due to any fault or evasion on this part.
After working his way to the #1 (WBC) contender spot, Haney openly stated he wanted a fight with then WBC lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. Instead of facing Haney however, Loma opted to vacate the traditional title in order to brandish the farcical WBC Franchise designation. This move would cast a deep shadow of confusion over the division that’s muddied the waters to this very day.
Teofimo Lopez loudly, and very falsely, claimed to be the undisputed champion due to owning the WBC Franchise title. George Kambosos has picked up where Teo left off. This is also the second charge against Haney, that being his belt is secondary to the dunderheaded Franchise title.
GOOD RIDDANCE
Yet, on June 5, Haney will make the long voyage to Australia to face Kambosos in a stadium full of the opposition’s roaring fans. Hanging in the balance will be the distinction of the true undisputed lightweight champion of the world. What makes this even more exciting, especially to the purists, is that if Haney wins, he proclaimed that he will not accept the Franchise designation. This would effectively nullify the belt’s existence in the division. Well, that’s according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman in a recent interview with Boxing Social.
“That’s good, the Franchise is a designation that has to be requested. So if he doesn’t request it, that’s perfect. If there is no Franchise in lightweight, then there is no Franchise.”
It would be great if, no matter who won, this bout would temporarily banish the goofy strap from the division. Only potentially temporarily though, because we are always only one champions’ request away from breathing new life into another cartoonish incarnation of this largely hated force-fed experiment. Yet, for now we have hope that the 135-pound Franchise title might just have its days numbered.
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By: Bakari Simpson
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