Roy Jones Jr. was named the Fighter of the Decade for the 1990s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Manny Pacquiao (2000s) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (2010s) followed “Captain Hook” with the same honors in the following decades.
Unofficially sitting atop the leaderboard for Fighter of the Decade honors for the 2020s is former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, who already has wins against Regis Prograis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, George Kambosos Jr. (twice), Joseph Diaz Jr., Jorge Linares and Yuriorkis Gamboa since 2020.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), a current junior welterweight titleholder, will look to add to that resume when he takes on Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Jones, a Hall of Fame fighter turned trainer and promoter, doesn’t see a loss coming to Haney’s dossier anytime soon.
“I don’t know who’s going to beat him,” Jones told BoxingScene. “I think Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson will probably give Haney his toughest test. But I don’t think anyone will necessarily beat him right now.
“He’s on a pretty high ground right now and it’s going to be difficult to beat him. His confidence is at an all-time high. He has loads of deserved confidence, and you have to get to that confidence before you even beat his skills.”
The former longtime HBO commentator Jones also broke down how he sees the fight unfolding between Haney and Garcia.
“They are both familiar with one another,” said the 55-year-old Jones. “That means we probably won’t get an early-round stoppage or early-round action. The longer the fight goes, we’ll see who’s grown more.
“If Garcia competed with him as an amateur, he’ll get close to competing with him as a pro. It’s just a matter of who can hold on the longest.
“Ryan is smart because he’s bringing a different mindset to the game and he’s making Haney think beyond the fight [because of Garcia’s antics] – like, ‘What’s going on with him?’ He’s hoping to get Haney’s mind off his last loss to Tank. Haney is going about it smartly, too. We’ll see whose scheme works.
“[Garcia] has to use more weapons. He can’t just depend on the left hook. Because everybody knows about his left hook now. … I think he should develop more tools. His right hand, his jab, body shots.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
