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Devin Haney is hoping his next title defense will take place thousands of miles from his adopted home of Las Vegas.
Haney, the 24-year-old undisputed lightweight champion, is in deep talks to fight three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko of Ukraine on May 20.
According to Haney, the only obstacle left in their talks concerns where the fight will actually take place.
Haney, a native of Oakland, California, but who lives and trains in Las Vegas, said he would actually prefer to fight somewhere in the Middle East because of his religion. A devout Muslim, Haney said he would look forward to potentially fighting in front of his spiritual confreres.
“Right now it’s just the site [that is the hold up],” Haney told iD Boxing from Abu Dhabi for the Jake Paul-Tommy Fury cruiserweight bout. “If we’re going to do it here or if we’re going to do it in Vegas. That will be announced soon. Hopefully we can do it here.
“It’s a great opportunity, especially for me to be fighting in front of so many Muslims,” Haney added. “This has been a dream of mine. It’s a great opportunity.”
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) had previously butted heads with his promoter, Top Rank, regarding the May date for the Lomachenko fight. Haney felt that he would not be in optimum condition if the fight took place at that time because he would just be coming out of the Ramadan holiday period which requires fasting for a month.
The Middle East has become a fecund region for boxing in recent years. Last year, the heavyweight unification rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk took place in Saudi Arabia. In November, Abu Dhabi hosted the light heavyweight title bout between titlist Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto Ramirez. The so-called Oil Kingdom has been able to woo promoters because of the outsize paydays they are able to offer to the fighters, a practice that some have criticized as a way for the region to scrub clean its reputation as a serial human rights violator.
The 35-year-old Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) returned to the ring in October after partaking in the war effort in his homeland, defeating Jamaine Ortiz by decision at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.