LAS VEGAS – Vasiliy Lomachenko considers himself a small lightweight, a boxer better suited for the junior lightweight division in which he also has held a world title.
The former WBC 135-pound champion typically faces size disadvantages against lightweights, but he is 7-1 in lightweight fights since he moved up from the 130-pound division five years ago. The 35-year-old Ukrainian southpaw expects to become boxing’s fully unified lightweight champion Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena, but he compared Devin Haney’s height, reach and overall size advantages to when Lomachenko fought Guillermo Rigondeaux in December 2017.
Like Lomachenko, Rigondeaux was a two-time Olympic gold medalist. The then-unbeaten Cuban southpaw moved up two weight classes, though, to fight for Lomachenko’s WBO junior lightweight title.
Lomachenko dominated Rigondeaux, who didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round of their 12-round, 130-pound title fight at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.
Though the 5-foot-6 Lomachenko has been a lightweight since early in 2018, the 5-foot-8 Haney has competed as a lightweight or junior welterweight since the Oakland native made his pro debut in December 2015. According to Lomachenko, he now knows how Rigondeaux felt when they fought.
“Forget comparing [Haney] with Rigondeaux because it’s two different sizes,” Lomachenko told a small group of reporters after he made his “grand arrival” Tuesday at MGM Grand’s lobby. “Now he’s in the same situation that I was with Rigondeaux. It looks like now I’m Rigondeaux and he’s Lomachenko, if we’re talking about size and reach and we’re [different] in weight.
“But if we compare another one [I fought] – [Teofimo] Lopez and [Richard] Commey and the other guys, [Jorge] Linares, [Luke] Campbell – they are guys [that] was bigger than me. And it was hard, but I always find a way. But right now, I’m just focused on this fight and focused on my moves.”
The only one of the aforementioned fighters who beat Lomachenko was Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs), who was undefeated when he out-pointed Lomachenko unanimously in their 12-round lightweight title fight in October 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center.
Lomachenko knocked out Linares, the only common opponent he and Haney have, with a perfectly placed body shot in the 10th round of their May 2018 fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. Haney beat Venezuela’s Linares (47-8, 29 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round lightweight title fight in May 2021 at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
The 24-year-old Haney has since become boxing’s fully unified lightweight champion. Haney, of Henderson, Nevada, impressed Lomachenko with his back-to-back, 12-round, unanimous-decision defeats of George Kambosos Jr. (20-2, 10 KOs) in Kambosos’ home country of Australia.
“He has a very high-level boxing IQ,” Lomachenko said. “He has reach and his speed is very good. So, it will be very interesting.”
Their 12-round fight for Haney’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 135-pound crowns will headline a three-fight ESPN Pay-Per-View show (10 p.m. EDT; 7 p.m. PDT; $59.99). Most handicappers have installed Haney as more than a 2-1 favorite over the three-division champion.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.