By Adam Baskin: Mickey Bey believes former three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko has “no chance” of defeating undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) for their fight in early 2023.
Interestingly, Bey is giving Lomachenko no shot of beating Haney because Loma would have been favored to win if they’d fought before his recent poor performance against Jamaine Ortiz on October 29th.
Haney’s future is uncertain because he lacks power, and his punch resistance has proven poor.
Right now, Haney is using his huge size advantage over his foes at 135 to win, but that situation will change when he moves up to 140 and starts competing against equally big fighters like Regis Prograis.
That fight changed the minds of boxing fans, making them believe the 34-year-old Lomachenko has slipped due to aging and inactivity.
Bey says that with the 24-year-old Haney’s maturity and talent, he defeats the two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) with no problems.
Haney vs. Lomachenko still hasn’t been negotiated, but Bey believes the match will take place.
“1000%, make no mistake about it,” said Mickey Bey to Fighthype when asked if Devin Haney defeats Vasyl Lomachenko when the two meet up in early 2023.
“Lomachenko is an excellent fighter, but that’s why you’ve got to give Devin credit at his age [24-years-old] to fight him because most young guys aren’t taking the tough fights anymore. They’re kind of waiting until they get older. They’re not really doing it like that.
“After Devin beats him, you’ve got to pretty much place him high in the top pound-for-pound ratings. Actually, Devin wanted to fight him when he was 20. I was training Devin for him when he was 20.
“He was calling me over to his house, ‘Let’s train for Lomachenko.’ At that time, I thought he still would have beat him. But now, I don’t see a chance that he could beat Devin.
“Devin has got too mature. As good of a fighter as Lomachenko is, I don’t see that style dealing with Devin. It’s a tall task for both of them. It’s a great fight. Devin is a competitive guy.
“He’s not scared of a challenge. If someone challenges him, he’s going to fight 100%, but he’ll beat Lomachenko for sure. He should because styles make fights. Anyone can have an off night. That’s just part of the game,” said Bey when asked if Haney will receive credit from boxing fans for beating Lomachenko, given how bad Loma looked in his recent fight against Jamaine Ortiz on October 29th.
“Boxing is the only sport where people write you off after one [poor performance]. Look at football and basketball and every other sport. They can lose a million times. Even in the UFC, another fighting sport. They have a ton of losses.
“Lomachenko won against a tough young fighter [Ortiz]. This guy got a lot of experience from that fight. If he didn’t want to, he could move up and fight for a vacant belt and fight anybody. So he should get full credit for fighting Lomachenko for sure,” said Bey.