Devin Haney predicted that the result of his scheduled showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko will be the same May 20 as it would’ve been had Lomachenko been willing to fight him in 2019.
Haney insists that Lomachenko avoided him back then and that he will show precisely why when they finally fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Oddsmakers have installed Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), of Henderson, Nevada, as a more than a 2-1 favorite to beat the 35-year-old Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in their 12-round fight for Haney’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO lightweight titles.
“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019,” Haney said during a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles. “I’ve been begging for it, calling for it. And the time has finally came. You know, the tables have turned this time around. You know, when he had the belts, he didn’t wanna fight me. He wouldn’t fight me.
“But, you know, it’s a fight that I truly believe [I’ll win] – I truly believe that I’m the better fighter, I’m the better competitor. Whether it was four years ago or now, I will be victorious. So, I’m happy that the time has finally came.”
Haney won the WBC interim lightweight title less than two weeks after Lomachenko beat England’s Luke Campbell by 12-round unanimous decision to capture the then-vacant WBC lightweight crown in August 2019 at O2 Arena in London. Haney, who stopped Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (then 11-0) in September 2019 to become the WBC’s interim champ, wanted to battle Ukraine’s Lomachenko thereafter, but Lomachenko lost to Teofimo Lopez (then 15-0) by unanimous decision in his following fight.
As critical as Haney and his father/trainer, Bill Haney, have been of Lomachenko for not fighting him sooner, they are certain that defeating Lomachenko will validate the 24-year-old undisputed 135-pound champion as one of boxing’s best, pound-for-pound. Lomachenko remained on many pound-for-pound lists prior to his subpar performance against Jamaine Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs), whom Lomachenko beat by unanimous decision in his last fight October 29 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.
Nevertheless, Lomachenko is a three-division champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the most accomplished opponent of Haney’s seven-year professional career.
“You know, this is a legacy fight for me,” Haney said. “Loma, at one time, was number one pound-for-pound. A few months ago, he was higher than me on the pound-for-pound list. You know, now that the fight is getting made, or has been made, he has dropped down. He dropped down off the pound-for-pound list. But it is what it is. We know what type of fighter he is.
“We know that he deserves to be on the pound-for-pound list. Not above me, but definitely on the pound-for-pound list. So, this is just a legacy fight. This is a fight. This is a real fight. This is not like a influencer or … you know, this is really for the belts. This is for the gold, everything, the pound-for-pound, the best in the division, possibly the best in the world.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.