Lomachenko talks Haney and Jermaine Ortiz

By Boxing News - 10/29/2022 - Comments

By Brian Webber: Vasyl Lomachenko will be in action tonight against Jermaine Ortiz in a fight that he hopes will lead to him challenging Devin Haney for his undisputed lightweight championship next.

Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) insists he’s not looking beyond Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), but obviously, that’s something that has to be on his mind. Loma wants to become the undisputed champion at 135, and this might be his only chance of accomplishing that fete.

If Lomachenko hadn’t spent the better part of this year defending his country in response to the Russian invasion, he’d likely be the undisputed champion by now because the former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr had intended on defending against him rather than Haney.

“He was good, he was smart, and he showed why he’s better than George Kambosos two times,” said Vasyl Lomachenko to Top Rank Boxing about Devin Haney.

“I wouldn’t refer to it as a heroic fete. It’s something we all do,” said Lomachenko when asked if he was impressed with Haney twice traveling to Melbourne, Australia, to face Kambosos in his home country.

“He made a trip to another country. He won the fight and went back. It’s common practice.”

“Yes, that’s definitely a fight I’d entertain,” said Haney when asked by ESPN if he’d be interested in fighting Lomachenko next.

“He’s side A. It means more to me than it does for him because now he’s undisputed world champion,” said Lomachenko. “He can say, ‘I don’t need Loma. I can fight with [Gervonta] Davis or [Ryan] Garcia or Shakur.

“Even if he wants to fight at home, I will go there as long as the belts are at stake. I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I don’t like to put the cart before the horse,” Lomachenko said when asked how he could get a fight against Haney.

“I chose to fight against Ortiz because he’s an undefeated, young, and technically skilled boxer. I was sparring with him before. It was not easy. It was very fast. He felt distance, he works on his feet really good and he understands boxing.

“If you’re talking about world champion, you need to be world champion for all belts,” Lomachenko said when asked why he wants to be undisputed. “You can’t be world champion if you take just one or two belts.”

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