Devin Haney survives late scare to win decision over Jorge Linares – Bad Left Hook

Devin Haney UD-12 Jorge Linares

Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) successfully defended his WBC title tonight, largely putting on a masterclass performance over Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 KOs) by showcasing an educated jab and responsible defense to largely befuddle the wiley veteran.

In fact I had Haney clearly winning the first nine rounds with his superior boxing before things would take a somewhat dramatic turn late. In the 10th round Linares landed a combination right at the bell, specifically a clean right hand on the chin, which had Haney staggered at the bell.

In the following rounds Haney’s disposition was clearly different as he would repeated grab hold of Linares as it appeared his legs still weren’t fully back under him. Despite holding Linares over and over for most of the last three rounds Haney was never warned for the tactic, but it surely pissed off the fans in attendance who booed the champion for good portions down the stretch including during his post-fight interview. In the end the official judges turned in a unanimous decision for Haney with scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 115-113. I scored the fight wider for Haney, 117-111.

In the aftermath of the fight Haney claimed that he was never hurt in the fight and that he beat Linares easily, saying he’s ready to unify against Teofimo Lopez if that’s in the cards.

Chantelle Cameron TKO-5 Melissa Hernandez

Chantelle Cameron (14-0, 8 KOs) successfully defended her WBC title tonight on DAZN, completely dominating Melissa Hernandez (23-8, 7 KOs) over five rounds of action before the referee ultimately stepped in to stop the fight at 1:38 or Round 5. The stoppage itself came at a questionable time as Hernandez was still fighting back and didn’t appear to be in any real immediate danger, but she was being thoroughly outclassed by a bigger, younger champion who didn’t come to play. Cameron was scoring big shots from the opening bell and dropped Hernandez once before the fight was ended.

Jason Quigley MD-10 Shane Mosley Jr

In a good, evenly matched middleweight matchup, Jason Quigley (19-1, 14 KOs) and Shane Mosley Jr (17-4, 10 KOs) traded punches back and forth over 10 rounds of action. Both fighters had their moments and whenever one landed a good shot, the other responded in kind. But by the end of the fight Quigley had done just enough to edge Mosley on the official judges scorecards, notching a majority decision win on scores of 95-95, 97-93, 96-94. Quigley made sure to acknowledge Mosley’s efforts in this fight knowing the fight could’ve really gone either way, but was happy to have things go his way as he collapsed in happiness as the decision was read.

Quigley said in the aftermath of the fight that although he knows the fight was close he’s not all that interested in pursing a rematch and wants to move on to bigger and better things going forward.

Azinga Fuzile TKO-7 Martin J. Ward

In a fight that started off as a stinker, things starting heating up in the middle rounds between these two junior lightweights who were having good back and forth success in a technical kind of fight. But things clearly changed in Fuzile’s favor with some punches that landed harder in exchange, flooring Ward. Ward would later seem to be hampered by a leg injury and Fuzile (15-1, 9 KOs) fully capitalized in Round 7, sending Ward (24-2-2, 11 KOs) down with a sweet check hook that ended the fight. The official stoppage came at the 2:45 minute mark or Round 7. With the win Fuzile say he’s coming strong looking for his title shot next.

Khalil Coe TKO-2 Nathaniel Tadd

In the DAZN opener light heavyweight Khalil Coe (1-0, 1 KO) made his professional debut a short one, completely overwhelming Nathaniel Tadd en route to a second round stoppage. Although Coe dropped Tadd twice in the opening round, Coe kept his composure, walking down Tadd and landing ferocious body shots that Tadd just couldn’t withstand. And although Tadd just barely made it out of the first round, he wouldn’t be so lucky in the second as he got hit with another clean body shot that put him down for a third time and causing the referee to stop the fight. The official stoppage came at the 1:10 mark of Round 2.