By Jake Tiernan: Promoter Lou DiBella believes that Devin Haney is “too fast” and skilled for Vasyl Lomachenko ahead of their still unscheduled fight.
DiBell is really high on the 24-year-old Haney and believes he and Shakur Stevenson are two geniuses inside the ring.
We’ll have to see if Haney can live up to the high praise that DiBella is giving him because there are still a lot of questions about him.
If Haney can get past the 34-year-old Lomachenko, hopefully, he’ll stay at 135 long enough to fight Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Haney’s dad, Bill, says he will stay at lightweight for the remainder of 2023, but that obviously could change if he struggles to make 135 for the Loma fight.
If Haney loses that fight or has a tough time winning, he’ll likely move up to 140 rather than stay and fight Shakur or Tank in a weakened condition.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), the undisputed lightweight champion, repeatedly said last weekend that his fight with Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) will take place on May 20th, and his management is looking for a site still.
“I personally think Devin Haney is too fast, too young, too long, too skilled for Loma, who in my mind is getting a little bit older, and I make Devin a pretty strong favorite to win the fight in my head,” said promoter Lou DiBella to Fighthype, picking undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney to defeat Vasyl Lomachenko on May 20th.
“I don’t see Devin staying at 135. So after Devin beats Loma, I think the 135-lb division is going to be wide open.
“Man, that’s hard,” said DiBella when asked who wins between Haney and Shakur Stevenson. “I might give a slight edge to Devin on size. He has a little more length, but I think you’re talking about two young geniuses in the ring.
“I think Devin and Shakur are the guys that have the whole packages. If there’s anyone out there that’s going to chase the Mayweather-type legacy in terms of talent, I think they’re at the highest end of talent.
“Shakur and Devin are two pound-for-pound guys, so that’s a fight I’d like to see. He punches harder than either one of them, and that creates an interesting dimension,” said DiBella when asked where he puts Tank between Shakur and Haney.
“I favor him slightly against Ryan, but I’m not sure who wins that fight. I think you got some real young guns around that 135 – 140-lb weight class, and I think the names thrown out there are the cream of the crop.
“I’m not a Davis hater in the ring. As a fighter, I love Davis. I like the pop. He’s not a volume guy, but he wears you down, and then he lands something big, and you’re in trouble.
“The punching dimension. He has the advantage as the puncher against all those other guys, but I don’t think he’s the boxer that Shakur is, and I don’t think he’s the boxer that Devin is.
“I got to be honest. I’m disgusted at the prospect of never seeing Spence and Crawford at 147. I’m so disgusted that I’m almost tired of it and tired of hearing about it and talking about it.
“But in my mind, the years that those two guys were in their own place and own level at welterweight. Not to see that fight at welterweight is a f***g sin. It’s a sin.
“Now, I’m going to go out on a limb. Crawford and Spence will fight. I don’t know what weight they’re going to fight at, but Crawford and Spence will fight. I’m not sure about this year, but they will fight,” said DiBella.
