Jorge Linares has warned Devin Haney that he is stepping up to a whole new level as he prepares to challenge the WBC lightweight champion at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday May 29, which makes it Sunday May 30 in Australia. The pair battles it out in the headliner of boxing fight card live on DAZN (start time here).
Former three-weight world king Linares (47-5 29 KOs) is looking to kickstart the latest chapter of his storied career by picking up the WBC belt that he owned in 2014 to 2016 from Haney (25-0 15 KOs).
The 22 year old champion has admitted that the Venezuelan star is the toughest fight of his career and has vowed to prove that he’s the man to beat at 135lbs. Linares believes that he has the goods to end the rising star’s title reign and return to the summit on Saturday.
‘I hope he’s ready for a tough fight’
“It’s a big fight and a new challenge for me,” said Linares. “I have a lot of respect for Devin. He’s a young guy, a World champion, but on Saturday the respect goes, and I am ready for an amazing fight, and I hope he’s ready too. He knows who he is fighting – a four-time World champion. I have a lot of experience and that’s the most important thing in this fight to win the fight. He doesn’t have that. He has talent, he has youth and hunger, and the belt.”
“A fight with me is a different level. I can show so many styles, I’m naturally fast and strong, I don’t have a lot of KOs, but he knows I can punch. I think he will run all night, but I will be waiting for him, I will follow him. If he wants to fight inside, I am ready for him. He’s going to have big problems on Saturday night, he knows I can do everything, and he knows I have to timing to put him down.”
“I know his style, I trained with him a long time ago in Vegas and we did some sparring. He was a baby then! But he’s a champion now and I hope he’s ready for a tough fight.”
“I don’t need to say anything about what he’s said. I just think about myself and what I need to do, not what he says or does. I don’t like to talk too much, I don’t need to talk to get fans or followers or anything, I just need to go out and do my job and put on a great fight.”
Linares’ clash with Haney tops a stacked card of action in Sin City. In the co-feature Chantelle Cameron (13-0 7 KOs) defends her WBC super lightweight title against Melissa Hernandez (23-7-3 7 KOs). The full fight card can be found here.
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