By Sam Volz: George Kambosos Jr predicts that former three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko will go down to defeat when he challenges Devin Haney for his undisputed lightweight championship in 2023.
The former unified lightweight champion Kambosos says Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) lacks the size or, surprisingly, the ring IQ to beat Haney (29-0, 15 KOs).
“It’s a great fight. I’m not going to sit here and disrespect Lomachenko,” said George Kambosos Jr to Fighthype about a potential fight between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko in early 2023.
If Lomachenko is just focusing on the payday, he’ll get fighting Haney, then so be it. By all means, Lomachenko should take the fight, but if he’s taking it because he thinks he can win, he’s probably kidding himself.
“Lomachenko is a true champion as well. For me, I just think Devin is too big, too sharp, and too strong, but that’s why boxing is so good,” said Kambosos.
“I think Devin is getting better and better and will win that fight, but I respect Lomachenko as well. I still want to grace the ring with that guy.
“It’s going to be what [Teofimo] Lopez did to Lomachenko,” said Kambosos.
Haney would have the same predicament if he moved up to 147 and fought guys bigger, stronger, and faster than himself, like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Errol Spence Jr, Terence Crawford, and Vergil Ortiz Jr.
The difference is Haney isn’t going to put himself in that situation because he’s got to know that those fighters would crush him, and his career would be over within four or five fights.
Haney couldn’t beat any of those guys because he wouldn’t have the size advantage over them, and he doesn’t have the power or chin to compete against guys his size at 147. Maybe he is a weight bully, but he’s still able to away with it at because he can make the 135 weight class.
“I want to be in the ring with Lomachenko regardless of what he does and how he performed in his last fight against Jamaine Ortiz, which we saw was very ordinary.
“I still want to grace the ring with that man. Styles make fights, and it’ll be an entertaining fight. For now, he and Haney will be a great fight for the fans, but Devin will be too much for him. Too sharp, too fast, too big, and too smart,” said Kambosos.
As small as Lomachenko is for the 135-lb division, he still beats Kambosos because he’s too talented for him. Kambosos looked like a rudimentary fighter in his two losses to Haney, and he would have lost to Teofimo if that guy had the mental strength to deal with adversity.
It’s going to be hard enough for the 34-year-old Lomachenko to overcome the huge size advantage of Haney, but when you factor in his boxing skills, it will be a bridge too far.
Lomachenko looked undersized and underpowered in his fights against Jamaine Ortiz and Teofimo Lopez. Those fights showed that Loma isn’t cut out for the 135-lb division and should really be fighting at 126.
Even the 130 is too big for Lomachenko because guys like Joe Cordina and Hector Luis Garcia would have too much size for him.