By Allan Fox: Vasyl Lomachenko is coming for undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney’s 4 belts next after he defeats George Kambosos Jr this Saturday night in their rematch in Melbourne, Australia.
Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) has coveted the four lightweight belts his entire career, and now he has an opportunity to pick them up in a single night by defeating the inexperienced 23-year-old Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) next after he finishes the career of Kambosos Jr in their main event fight on ESPN & ESPN+.
Not surprisingly, Haney hasn’t seemed enthusiastic about the idea of defending against Lomachenko next, and his father, Bill Haney, doesn’t appear to be eager to make that fight happen.
Bill has said that they’ll decide the next move for Haney based on how he feels at the weight on Saturday and how things go afterward. The way Bill talks, it seems apparent that he’s not excited about matching Haney against Lomachenko for obvious reasons.
Predictably, Haney will vacate his four lightweight belts after he sends Kambosos into retirement on Saturday night and then flees the 135-lb division, heading north to the 140-lb weight class where the talent pool is thin.
“Now he is the undisputed world champion. He holds four belts. These four belts are what I want, what I’ve followed all my professional career,” said Vasyl Lomachenko to ESNEWS about undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
“So now he’s the undisputed world champion; that’s why I want this fight,” said Loma.
In a perfect world, Haney would stay at 135 and defend against Lomachenko and deal with what may come from that fight.
The way Haney seems ambivalent about facing Lomachenko, it’s crystal clear that he doesn’t want to fight him. If you compare Haney’s enthusiasm towards fighting Kambosos to that of when he’s asked about Lomachenko, it’s so obvious that he doesn’t want any part of facing the two-time Olympic gold medalist.
If and when Haney loses that fight to Lomacchenko, he can always move up to 140 with the slate wiped clean more or less in a new weight class. It would be a second chance for the Oakland, California native.
Haney would have an excellent shot of picking up the WBO light welterweight belt because his main competition for that soon-to-be-vacated title is Teofimo Lopez, who has already proven to be mentally fragile in his loss to George Kambosos Jr in 2021.
