Devin Haney has said he is preparing to ‘go to war’ for his fight with Jorge Linares this weekend.
WBC champion Haney fights his Venezuelan challenger on Saturday night in an event shown globally on DAZN .
Appearing on the DAZN Boxing Show he made it clear that he was putting in the hours in the gym to be at his best.
“I’m preparing to go to war. I’m in the best shape, I’m in great shape. I feel great, my weight is good. I can’t wait for Saturday night,” he said.
Linares has said that he believes his experience of more than a decade at the top of boxing should give him an advantage over his younger rival, but the 22-year-old American thinks that the natural course of the sport is for older fighters to be moved aside by up-and-comers.
“At the end of the day you can say experience all day long, but it wouldn’t be boxing if the younger guy doesn’t beat the older guy,” he explained.
“That’s how boxing evolves. I’m counting on speed, power, ring generalship, hard work and dedication. You can say experience all you want but I'm going in there to win. I can’t count on what I did in the past.”
Linares also said that he thinks Haney will have to change his usual approach for the fight if he is to stand a chance, but the world champion is content in his style.
“You got to see it on Saturday night. If that’s what he thinks, that is what he thinks. We don’t know what I might do. We have to go in the ring and see what I do on Saturday night,” he said.
“It really is no pressure for me. I don’t feel it, I’m going to go in there and have fun. When you put pressure on yourself and hold yourself accountable for these things, it messes me up. I like to go in there and have fun. I trained hard for the best possible fight. I’m prepared for anything.
“I feel like I finally have that good name because a iwin in itself should be enough. Guys in the past I’ve had to prove myself. Linares holds enough weight for me to go in there and do what I do and get the credit there.”