Devin Haney screamed at the top of his lungs as his father hoisted him in the air. For the 24-year-old, he knew good and well that, while he held all of the major hardware in the lightweight division, a victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko, was salient to his career moving forward.
Two weeks ago, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) first boxed then brawled his way to a unanimous decision victory. Although he wasn’t in the arena, Frank Martin tuned in for every second of their 12-round title fight.
From the outside looking in, Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) was simply intrigued as to how their showdown would play out. But, more than anything, the 28-year-old lightweight contender was taking notes.
According to many, the manner in which Haney scored his victory was of the controversial variety. Martin though, doesn’t share those sentiments. While he admits that it was close, the Detroit native believes that Haney did just enough to earn the victory.
Now, with Haney remaining on his undisputed throne, Martin is optimistic that he’ll eventually land a showdown against the pound-for-pound star. If Martin’s dreams become a reality, he wouldn’t go into details in terms of how exactly he would fight Haney but he did, however, admit that he’ll bombard the undisputed champion with every trick in his toolbox.
“I’ll mix it up,” said Martin during an interview with MillCity Boxing. “I’ll do a little bit of everything.”
Martin, after flying under the radar for most of his career, capped off his terrific 2022 with a lopsided victory over Michel Rivera. To kick off his 2023, Martin is slated to return on July 15 in Las Vegas, against unbeaten Artem Harutyunyan. Whether or not Martin lands an undisputed shot against Haney later this year is an open-ended question. Something that can’t be questioned, at least from Martin’s point of view, is the outcome of his hypothetical showdown against Haney.
“I’ll stop Haney. I’ll stop him.”
By Hans Themistode