- Devin Haney, a 20-year-old American, just produced another statement win.
- He forced a fourth round corner against Zaur Abdullaev at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday, sending Abdullaev back to Russia with an apparently fractured cheekbone.
- Haney is now the mandatory challenger for Vasyl Lomachenko's world lightweight titles.
- And the bout will be widely anticipated as Haney has been attracting comparisons to a young Floyd Mayweather.
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Devin Haney produced another statement win Friday when he forced a fourth round corner stoppage against Zaur Abdullaev.
Haney, 20, appeared disappointed that the fight could not go on, saying in Forbes: "I wasn't nearly done beating him. I was just warming up."
But only warming up caused great damage on Abdullaev, a 25-year-old who was sent back to Russia with a reported fractured cheekbone, Forbes reports.
Watch the stoppage right here:
The punch from @RealDevinHaney that caused the stoppage. 📹#HaneyAbdullaev pic.twitter.com/KXX4E2cTL7
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) September 14, 2019
The victory, the 23rd of Haney's career to date, pushes the American into mandatory challenger status.
This means he is now on the cusp of a massive world title fight against lightweight ruler Vasyl Lomachenko, 31, a three-weight world champion and one of the most impressive pound-for-pound athletes in world boxing today.
Haney's performance also escalated comparisons to a young Floyd Mayweather.
Even before he defeated Abdullaev, Haney was regarded by Boxing News and The Athletic as a Mayweather-esque fighter.
This is because while Mayweather was latterly known as a defensive master, before he switched his style mid-career, he was a knockout puncher in and around the featherweight and lightweight divisions.
And now Haney, more than a decade later, has picked up where the lighter Mayweather left out, with boxing journalist Ryan Songalia tweeting: "Devin Haney reminds me of Floyd Mayweather fighting at 130 pounds."
PBC on Fox writer Mark Ortega agreed, saying there were similarities between a 21-year-old Mayweather, and Haney.
21-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Tony Pep. Can see quite a few similarities in Devin Haney. #boxing pic.twitter.com/4HWApi7MOY
— Mark Ortega (@MarkEOrtega) September 14, 2019
Haney's promoter Eddie Hearn, the group managing director of Matchroom Sport, said his fighter is "too, too good," adding that he will be working on making the Lomachenko bout happen next.
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