By Adam Baskin: Devin Haney says he wants to show the boxing world how many levels above he is over Vasyl Lomachenko when they fight on May 20th.
The undisputed lightweight champion Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) says he’s been calling Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) for years and that he would have beaten him even back then.
Haney almost seems bitter, like he’s carrying a chip on his shoulder about Lomachenko not fighting him years ago. You hate to see fighters that are bitter years later because that tells you that they’re living in the past.
Lomachenko had no incentive to fight Haney years ago because he was a no-name, and brought little value to the table.
The guy that Lomachenko wanted to fight at 130 and 135 was Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, but his former promoters at Mayweather Promotions wanted no part of making that fight, which is understandable.
Now, some boxing fans believe the 34-year-old Lomachenko has lost something from his game that will give Haney a strong chance of defeating him on May 20th when the two fight at a still-to-be-determined location.
When Lomachenko was in his prime from 2013 to 2017, it would have been near impossible for Haney to contend with him back then, but now with Loma having aged and Devin carrying a lot of size, he’s going to be hard to beat.
If you take away Haney’s size advantage and put him against a prime Lomachenko, he would have had a hard time dealing with his skills.
“I told him a long time ago, ‘Fight me now because it’s only going to get worse,’ and right now, I’m just a different breed of fighter right now. I’m a much more mature fighter than when I was calling him out years ago,” said Devin Haney to Secondsout about Vasyl Lomachenko.
“I want to show how many levels I am above him at this time in my career.”
If Haney loses to Lomachenko, he’s never going to live it down, and it’s going to hurt his career. Losing to this version of Lomachenko would mean that he would have never beaten him. That’s why it’s a risky fight for Haney because his popularity will plummet if he gets beaten.
Assuming Haney wins, he’s got to stay at lightweight long enough to fight Tank Davis and Shakur Stevenson. Leaving the division without fighting those two would affirm in the eyes of many that he’s afraid of them.
