Devin Haney stirring up trouble with Vasily Lomachenko

By Boxing News - 03/01/2021 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Devin Haney and former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko exchanged trash talk on social media earlier today.

It’s unclear whether Haney is just name-dropping Lomachenko to get attention from the fans or if he’s using it to get Jorge Linares’ management to hurry to the table to negotiate their much-talked-about fight for April.

Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been talking ONLY of wanting to have his next defense be against the former three-division world champion Linares (47-5, 29 KOs).

Hearn has made no mention of wanting to put together a fight between Haney and Lomachenko, and you can well understand why he hasn’t shown interest in making that match.

There’s too much for Hearn to lose if he lets Haney face a healthy Lomachenko, as it could end badly for his fighter.

Image: Devin Haney stirring up trouble with Vasily Lomachenko

Haney stirring up trouble

Haney: “Where tf is Loma at!?!?!?

Lomachenko: “@Realdevinhaney, I’m here! I’m waiting for you cowards to decide on a real fight and not on a Twitter fight.”

Haney: “I was definitely waiting to fight you when I was your MANDATORY & you petitioned for the Franchise Title!”

Linares: “I don’t think you’re ready for April, but I am, and I wait for you. Welcome, March. #teamlinares.”

Haney: Let’s be real… a contract was sent to your team? Did you decline because we haven’t heard back?

WBC lightweight champion Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) initiated the exchange by inquiring where the two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist was at, as he’s been keeping quiet lately.

Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) replied that he’s here and waiting for the Haney to decide on a real-life fight rather than social media exchange.

Ranked #1 with the World Boxing Council at 135, Lomachenko has arguably been frozen out by the Four Lions in the lightweight division as far as being a viable option.

Even Haney has shown no interest in fighting Lomachenko, which some boxing fans view as a sign that he doesn’t think he can beat the Ukrainian fighter.

Since Lomachenko’s 12 round unanimous decision defeat by Teofimo Lopez on October 17th last year, Haney, Ryan Garcia, Gervonta, and even Teo haven’t shown interest in facing him.

Is Haney interested in facing Lomachenko?

What we don’t know what Haney’s intentions are in talking about Lomachenko. Is there serious interest from Haney towards a fight with Loma, or is this just a ploy to get his desired target Linares to negotiate a clash for April?

Image: Devin Haney stirring up trouble with Vasily Lomachenko

Knowing Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn, he’s likely to steer him towards safer waters by putting together the fight with the 35-year-old Linares, who has lost two out of his last five fights since 2018.

Interestingly, Lomachenko isn’t even included as one of the ‘Four Lions’ in the division, which seems bizarre, given that he had been considered the #1 guy at 135 until his loss to Teofimo.

The defeat caused some to lower Lomachenko’s ranking, putting him below the other top lightweights, even though it’s believed that the shoulder injury during his fight with Teofimo limited his effectiveness.