Greg Leon: How's everything gone in preparation for Zaur Abdullaev? What can we expect to see from you next Saturday night? Devin Haney: "Preparation has been good, everything has been good, my weight is coming off good and I just can't wait to get in there and give the fans another spectacular performance. You guys aren't going to want to miss this one." GL: How do you feel about being the headliner at Madison Square Garden? DH: "It's great! It's a dream come true for me. This is the first of many, I'm looking forward to putting on a good performance and exciting the fans."

 

GL: What do you know about Abdullaev as a fighter?

 

DH: "Not too much. I know he's going to come to fight and he's going to give it his all. I know there's a lot at stake with this fight, so I know that he's not coming in there to lay down. I feel like he's going to come in there and try to put the pressure on me and wear me down and break me down but of course that's going to happen."

 

GL: Because you've got the skills to offset whatever he brings to the table.

 

DH: "I always do."

 

GL: It was recently announced that this bout will take place for the WBC interim title. How do you feel about that?

 

DH: "It means everything, I feel great about the WBC"s decision. If Lomachenko gets all of the belts and then he vacates I would get elevated to the regular title. It's a lot at stake in this fight because it's basically for the world title since we don't know what will happen in the future so that's why this fight is so important."

 

GL: That title will make you the mandatory challenger to Vasiliy Lomachenko. How quickly do you want to see that enforced? I'm sure you'd rather fight Loma than just get bumped up to the full blown champion.

 

DH: "Defintely, I would much rather want to fight him and I"m keeping my fingers crossed that it does happen, but I know that he's going to go get that other belt with (Richard) Commey or (Teofimo) Lopez, but I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed hoping we could get that fight."

 

GL: What did you think of the Lomachenko-Campbell fight?

 

DH: "I try not to judge somebody based off one performance. It obviously wasn't his best performance, he showed flaws to me and they were the kind of flaws that I feel like I could capitalize on."

 

GL: Such as?

 

DH: "Such as I might be getting a fight with him so I ain't going to say nothing about it G."

 

GL: Who do you like in Lopez vs Commey?

 

DH: "I like Lopez to win the fight. A lot of people think that I"m crazy for picking him, but I think he's going to take it. I think he's going to fight smart and outbox him. If he goes out there and tries to fight fire with fire, anything can happen."

 

GL: You train for the distance but don't get paid by the round. Will Abduallaev go the distance?

 

DH: "Of course a knockout is the best way to win in boxing. If I can get the knockout that would be beautiful, but I'm definitely going in there to knock him out."

 

GL: Closing thoughts for the fans.

 

DH: "Thank you guys for supporting me as always. I want to thank you for the interview G, and I want everybody to come out to the Garden or tune in on DAZN to watch me take this title on Saturay night