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MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: DEVIN HANEY, JORGE LINARES, MAYWEATHER-PAUL, AND MORE

By Paul Magno | June 03, 2021
MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: DEVIN HANEY, JORGE LINARES, MAYWEATHER-PAUL, AND MORE

Each and every Thursday here at Fight Hype, I spray boxing ignorance with gooey, salty truth unleashed from the depths of my bulbous, bulging sack– and this Thursday is no different. This week, we have questions/comments regarding Devin Haney, Jorge Linares, Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul, Spence-Pacquiao, and more.

Haney is no Floyd; Spence v. Pacquiao

Hey Paul,

Read your mailbag, profound!

Spence has to crush Pacquiao, no less! He must be training and preparing for that outcome.

I read an article where Devin Haney stated he's the reincarnation of Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather.

Not! PB Floyd was a fighter, a killer, who hadn't arrived until after the Gatti fight.

During the Gatti fight you could hear a pin drop after PBF put it on Thunder Gatti!

After that fight, Floyd became a politician, an "Entertainer".

Floyd has almost as many highlight reel fights as all these guys have fights.

The only young fighter that comes close to PBF is Tank Davis, but against lesser competition, the same competition as the others - Stevenson, Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Haney and Lomachenko!

-- Robert Jackson

Hey Robert. 

Yeah, I’d say that Haney, himself, or anyone else making the Devin-Floyd Mayweather comparison is downright loopy. Young, ascending Mayweather was a pretty aggressive guy and someone who instinctively knew that coming up and building a fan base required putting on a show. Mayweather pulled back and played prevent defense a lot more after he already became an established draw, but he absolutely did not do that at Haney’s age or stage of career.

At this point with Haney, we can only deduce that he’s either reluctant to really let his hands go because he’s not secure about his ability to take the receipts coming at him or he’s not secure about his ability to close the show with his power. While it’s true that he’s just 22, he’s also a world champ with a big TV deal. So, I don’t think he gets the patience normally afforded to a 22-year-old unfinished boxing product. 

The kid’s clearly got big-time skills. And, although I had some fun with him getting wobbled by Linares in my Notes from the Boxing Underground this past Monday, getting happy-faced buzzed is no great sin for a young fighter (or even an older fighter). Guys like Mayweather and Canelo have visited that one-punch happy land in their past and came through things just fine. 

I guess my only complaint about Haney is that he should be burning with a youthful urgency to prove himself at 22-- like Teofimo or Gervonta or Ryan Garcia are-- but he’s not. And that opens the door for criticism, flat-lining public interest, and bolder-than-they-should-be opposition that feels like they can safely take a few whacks at him.

When it comes to Spence-Pacquiao...absolutely, Spence can NOT take this lightly or he very well could get shocked.

Haney, Linares, and Teofimo vs. “El Rayo”

Hi Paul,

Devin Haney...so is he that good or was Linares that old? Personally, I did not see anything on Linares that made me think he felt old, his speed and power were there. I was impressed by Haney and his jab/speed. However, I noticed that Linares' game plan was to catch him with the counter left hook, a plan that he did not change until around R7 (he started throwing combinations) which seemed to work against Haney (see R10).

There were times I felt that a prime Linares with all those combinations would catch Haney eventually, but I also felt that Haney's jab was just on point and he would not let Linares get into range... thoughts?

One year ago I talked about lightweight being the hottest division...nowadays I only care about Teofimo vs Haney seeing how Kingry does not care about boxing and Gervonta just cares about jumping divisions fighting low tier champions.

One interesting x to the equation, there is this guy called Jose Rayo Valenzuela who claims (both he and jose benavidez sr) that they made Teofimo quit on sparring, and Teofimo does not seem to refute those claims? Any thoughts on him? He seems to be quite good.

Hope you had your vaccine by now

Best regards

-- Miguel

Hey Miguel.

Just came up to the States to get vaccinated. I’ll be headed back to Mexico soon, better suited to deal with the mess down there.

I don’t think Linares’ age was too much of a factor in the Haney fight. Linares is just Linares. I’ve written about this before, but the guy has always had the skill and ability to be a long-standing elite. There’s just something inside him that’s kept him back, sabotaging his own efforts and preventing him from achieving full self-actualization as a fighter. Him holding his punches, even though he could clearly touch Haney, and only showing a glimpse of his potential to score the upset is totally in character for Linares. 

As for the lightweight division, I think we might see a couple of those interesting fights, but only after these guys climb to 140 or 147. Maybe. Boxing is once again showing its unique ability to screw things up, even when it's given an idiot-proof plan featuring a roster of young, competition-driven prospects.

“El Rayo” Jose Valenzuela is a big talent, but he’s still young. He’s a little rough around the edges right now and has some balance issues. But I can totally see where he’d give some established pros fits in sparring. He’s tall, has heavy hands and throws punches from wide, sometimes odd, angles. He’s the type of fighter who can catch a better boxer cold and/or unprepared and cause some damage. I’m not at all surprised that he’d give Teo (and other fighters) problems in sparring. In the actual “real” ring, though, he’s still a couple of years away. 

Floyd Mayweather or Logan Paul?

Hey Paul. 

I guess I gotta be the one to ask. Mayweather or Logan Paul, who ya got and how?

-- Damon

Hey Damon.

There are going to be two winners for this one-- Mayweather’s bank account and Paul’s bank account. Competitively, there’s no way Mayweather should lose this one, even giving up 30 pounds, 18 years, 6 inches in reach, and after a 4-year layoff. It WILL be interesting to see how seriously Floyd takes this fight and if he’ll actually push to stop Logan Paul. And then there’s the VERY remote chance that Paul could clip him and somehow win-- something which would absolutely affect Mayweather’s legacy, no matter how much we’d like to think it wouldn’t.

I guess if I had to make a pick, I’d go with Mayweather via TKO in the third after clowning around a bit and toying with Paul.

Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.

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