By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Bob Arum revealed today that the Devin Haney vs. Vasyl Lomachenko fight is nearly finalized for early next year.
Arum says the date & venue will be announced soon for the Haney – Lomachenko clash.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) will defend his undisputed lightweight title against former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in what many boxing fans will be looking forward to.
The 34-year-old Lomachenko didn’t look good in his last fight, coming off a 10-month layoff to defeat his former sparring partner Jamaine Ortiz by a close 12 round unanimous decision on October 29th in New York.
After a slow start in which Lomachenko was beaten to the punch and shockingly dominated by the faster, bigger, and more mobile 26-year-old Jamaine (16-1-1, 8 KOs), he rallied to win the fight with his strong finish in the championship rounds.
“Yes, we’re looking at the site and the date, and we’ll have an announcement shortly,” said Bob Arum to Pro Boxing Fans about the Devin Haney vs. Vasyl Lomachenko fight in the first half of 2023.
Lomachenko looked considerably smaller when Haney entered the ring after his victory over Ortiz to begin hyping their clash. Loma, who looked two divisions smaller than the welterweight-sized Haney, remarked that he resembled a heavyweight.
Obviously, Lomachenko was going a little overboard by saying Haney was heavyweight-sized. Still, he would have been dead-on correct if he said he resembled a welterweight or junior middleweight.
For Lomachenko to have a chance of defeating the much larger Haney, he must a way to deal with his size advantage. Haney lacks power and hand speed, but he has an excellent jab.
Haney tends to stay on the outside, jab, and then tie up his smaller foes when they get in range to land shots. To deal with Haney’s frequent clinching, it’ll require that Lomachenko fight hard in the clinch and not just give up and wait for the referee to break them.
Former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr made the mistake of passively waiting for the referee to pull Haney off him when the two were in the clinch rather than fighting through it. This allowed Haney to club Kambosos with shots in the clinch and take advantage of his passiveness.
Haney, 24, isn’t going to be able to stay at lightweight for much longer, as he looked completely drained, making the 135-lb limit for his last two fights.