By Adam Baskin: Eddie Hearn is picking Devin Haney to successfully defend his undisputed lightweight championship over Vasily Lomachenko next month in what he believes will be a one-sided contest on May 20th on ESPN+ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hearn didn’t mention whether he was basing his pick on Haney’s middleweight size and him being viewed as a weight bully by some fans. As big as Haney is, Lomachenko could be four divisions smaller than him on fight night if he rehydrates to 160.
According to Hearn, the 35-year-old Lomachenko is a “faded fighter” who isn’t the guy he used to be years ago. Of course, if Haney is drained to the point of collapse from coming down from 160 to 135, there’s the possibility that Lomachenko because he’s going to be full of energy.
Hearn is interested in re-signing Haney if they can make a deal. Haney’s contract with Top Rank will expire with his fight with Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs), so he’ll be a highly sought-after fight, assuming he wins that contest.
Given that Hearn wants to re-sign Haney, you must take his prediction with a grain of salt. Hearn would be working against his own best interests if he were to pick Lomachenko to beat Haney.
The 24-year-old Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), who looks more like a full-fledged middleweight nowadays than a lightweight, could be defending his undisputed 135-lb championship for the final time unless he can get a lucrative fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis next.
It’s become very difficult for Haney to get down to the lightweight limit, so unless he can get a massive money fight against Tank, there’s no reason for him to continue to put his body through torture to stay at 135.
“Yes, I do. I think he wins nearly every round,” said Eddie Hearn to iD Boxing, picking undisputed lightweight champion Haney to beat Lomachenko decisively on May 20th.
“I see Lomachenko has a faded fighter; I’ve always believed that Devin could beat him. We were trying to get that fight three years ago when Loma was more in his prime, so I believe that he wins that comfortably.”
“Lomachenko will be looking to reclaim the belts that he lost to Teofimo Lopez in 2020. His fights since his defeat, against Masayoshi Nakatanki, Richard Commey, and Jamaine Ortiz have hardly blown fans away.”
“I believe he’ll move 140, and if he does that, it might make sense to stay with Top Rank because they could feed him Josh Taylor, TeofimoLopez, or whoever,” said Hearn.
