It was Haney's DAZN/Matchroom debut and he was dazzling in his performance as Moran, who lost a close decision to Jose Pedraza last June, was overmatched against Haney.
I scored Haney as the winner of every round before the memorable ending and the fight's only question by the fourth round was whether Haney would be able to stop Moran, who had never been stopped in his previous losses.
Haney will have to take another step up when he challenges for a world title, but I wouldn't be surprised a bit if, by 2021, the fight fans are talking about as the "fight that must be made" would match Devin Haney with Teofimo Lopez.
On ESPN, the WBO junior lightweight title was the centerpiece of a pro wrestling like storyline as former Marine and Olympian Jamel Herring pulled an upset of champion Masayuki Ito in Kissimmee, Florida via a unanimous decision.
Herring was just too slick for Ito, who was noted for never having an amateur fight before turning pro and it showed against the skilled, but never noted for being outstanding Herring.
In hindsight, Ito was made to order for a fighter of Herring's style and I should have seen that coming.
Herring avoided the wild lunges of Ito well and was able to control the fight from the outside as Ito seemed confused by Herring's left-handed stance and was rarely able to land.
I scored Herring a 116-112 (8-4) winner which agreed with one judge, with the other two scoring a too wide 118-110.
Herring dedicated the win to his late daughter, who passed away from SIDS as an infant and would have turned ten on the day of Herring's title win.
It's a compelling story, but one that isn't likely to end in a long championship book as Herring may fight WBC champion Miguel Berchelt in a unification fight in which Herring will again be a sizable underdog.
In the co-main event, Jose Pedraza returned from his loss to Vasyl Lomachenko to stop Antonio Lozada in the ninth round of their ten round event.
Lozada showed lots of heart and aggression and gave Pedraza little quarter, but the difference between a top ten fighter and a top twenty fighter can be vast and despite the effort, Pedraza wore Lozada down before being knocked down and finished in the ninth round.
Pedraza may be blocked in the lightweight division for now and might have to move to 140 pounds for another title shot.
Pedraza is unlikely to receive a Lomachenko rematch for two (and likely three after his match with Luke Campbell) belts and the remaining champion Richard Commey (IBF) is defending against Ray Beltran next,a victory should see Commey cash in against Lomachenko for all the lightweight gold and Pedraza is surprisingly unranked by the IBF.
Over with the PBC on FS1 from Biloxi Mississippi, the Hamburglar peeped his head outside the arches as former Olympian Terrell Gausha appeared to have clearly outpointed former champion Austin Trout in a fight that could be called boring and well, I'm calling it boring, but Gausha didn't receive the deserved nod as the judges called the fight a draw with three divergent and inaccurate card.
I had Gausha winning originally 96-94, but a rewatch (hey, I was at work and I was bored!) saw me give Gausha a 97-93 decision.
The Gausha judge scored it 99-91, which was ridiculous, but the 95-95 wasn't good (I thought my original 96-94 Gausha was generous to Trout), but the 96-94 Trout card was terrible.
It wasn't that Gausha was exciting or terrific in triumph, mind you, but Trout looked slow and just didn't move his hands enough.
Trout called for a rematch, saying he hadn't fought enough of late and while that may be true (and just whose fault is that again?), I don't think anyone really wants to see this again and what would it prove even if they did.
PBC could stick either of these two against Julian Williams or the Tony Harrison/Jermell Charlo winner anyway, so a rematch seems pointless.
I would like to add one point- Austin Trout seems to be the first fighter to succumb to the matchmaking style of PBC, where you fight once a year and maybe face a top-notch boxer every other year.
Inactivity dulls the skills and inactivity hurts an older fighter more than a younger one as far as sharpness goes, but the younger fighter is hurt by not fighting enough by not learning what you need to learn as an older fighter to dig deep, win a fight that you shouldn't or discover the tricks of the trade to give you a chance to win in a fight you might not be the favorite to win.
The system that PBC pushes for their fighters is that you'll get good pay for fewer fights and take less damage and that makes sense- in theory.
However, what that seems to be doing as well is limiting their fighters prime (in earning years as well as performance), affecting their long term performance and keeping them from the careers that their fighters are capable of.
Austin Trout might be the first test case of my theory, but over the next few years, I'm willing to bet that he won't be the last.
The other fight in the challenge from China has not taken place yet (Later this morning), so I will edit this post with the result and update to the boxing challenge after it is over.
In the boxing challenge as of this writing, I have added three points to Ramon Malpica's two with the Devin Haney fight being the difference in points.
Both of us picked Jose Pedraza's win for one point, both of us picked Masayuki Ito in his loss and the Trout-Gausha draw gives no points.
Editor's Note; Carlos Canizales defeated Sho Kimura via unanimous decision.
Ramon added two points for that win and took four points to my three for the weekend.
Ramon cuts my lead in the challenge to 135-120.
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