Eddie Hearn rates Devin Haney’s career resume ahead of former three-division world champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who some see as the actual ‘Face of Boxing’ due to his popularity. Hearn feels that the 28-year-old Baltimore native Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) doesn’t quite have as good a resume as the younger 24-year-old Haney, and it’s hard to disagree with him.
The truth is, Haney’s resume is almost as poor as Tank Davis’s, but it’s not quite as awful. It’s definitely not good, especially with his recent controversial win over Vasily Lomachenko last May, a fight in which practically the whole world saw Devin being given a gift decision.
Isaac Cruz – fringe-level fighter
Ryan Garcia – Unproven Instagram fighter
Mario Barrios – secondary WBA 140-lb champion
Leo Santa Cruz – Former 118-pounder
Jose Pedraza – old & past it
Careful Matchmaking
This is the new era of boxing in which wily promoters match their fighters against stewbums to build an unbeaten resume and then stick them on PPV to make money. It’s all about bringing in the dough. Tank’s handlers at Mayweather Promotions & PBC have been cautious with how they’ve matched him, opting for non-risky opposition that wasn’t a threat to defeating him while ignoring guys that could mar his perfect record.
The fans of Tank argue that his management are being clever by letting the big fights marginate using the Mayweather-esque formula of letting these match-ups stew for five to six years before finally making them happen. Gervonta is now a ten-year pro, fast approaching 30 years old, and he still hasn’t fought anyone of real quality. It’s become a kind of a joke, and some feel that Showtime’s decision to exit broadcasting boxing events on their network is a result of the non-competitive match-ups by Tank Davis as well as many of the other PBC fighters. There’s nothing wrong with Gervonta Davis fighting those guys if he used them as stay-busy fights because none of them are high-quality. Tank Davis should have fought these fighters:
Vasily Lomachenko
Devin Haney
Shakur Stevenson
Keyshawn Davis
Teofimo Lopez
Frank Martin
William Zepeda
Subriel Matias
Gary Antuanne Russell