By Vince D’Writer: Boxing is a sport that consists of levels, and on Saturday, May 20th, two high-level boxing technicians will clash as undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney will defend his crown against Vasiliy “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in the Top Rank main event, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, live on ESPN+ PPV.
Vasiliy Lomachenko is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who only needed 12 professional fights to accomplish the feat of becoming a three-division world champion. Now he’s on the verge of achieving another personal goal as he’s set to clash with Devin Haney in an attempt to cash in on his opportunity to win the undisputed lightweight title.
On May 20th, Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) will be making the second defense of his undisputed crown. His bout with Lomachenko is being billed as a chess match due to the fact that this match won’t be determined by who strikes first. This bout will be determined by which fighter can make the most adjustments.
Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko are skilled boxers with high ring IQ’s. When they face each other, it will be a thinking man’s game as they will both have moments where they place each other in check, but the man who can stay one move ahead will be the boxer to place his opponent in checkmate.
The 24-year-old Haney started boxing at the age of seven. He turned pro at the age of 17 and started pursuing his dream to someday fight for a world title. Now Devin Haney is the reigning undisputed lightweight champion, and he’s in a position in which he’s fighting for legacy and respect.
As he was coming up in the ranks, Devin Haney was labeled as one of the modern-day Four Kings, along with Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, and Gervonta Davis. When Haney won a title, he was ridiculed by his peers in regards to the legitimacy of his status as a champion.
Back in September 2019, Devin Haney defeated Zaur Abdullaev and won the vacant WBC Interim lightweight title. A month later, the World Boxing Council decided to upgrade Haney from interim champion to WBC lightweight champion.
At that particular point and time, Devin Haney had accomplished one of his goals, but unfortunately, he didn’t receive the opportunity to do it inside of the squared circle. Due to the way he became a champion, Haney was ridiculed by his peers, as Teofimo Lopez labeled Haney as being an email champion.
Three years later, Devin Haney traveled 8,000 miles to Melbourne, Australia, and he scored a dominant unanimous decision victory over George Kambosos Jr. With the win, Haney placed his name in the record books by becoming the youngest undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
After suffering his first professional defeat, George Kambosos Jr immediately activated his rematch clause. Once again, Haney traveled to Melbourne, Australia, put together a dominant performance, and won the rematch by way of a unanimous decision.
Now Devin Haney is preparing to make the second defense of his undisputed crown as he will face Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20th. A potential victory over Lomachenko should enhance Haney’s legacy, but will it get Haney the respect that he deserves?
It seems like every time Devin Haney achieves a career goal, his accomplishment gets discredited. First, he was ridiculed for not being a world champion, and as soon as he won a title, he was labeled an email champion. Then Haney won the undisputed lightweight crown, and all of a sudden, the narrative of ‘belts don’t matter’ started to circulate.
Haney is set to battle the former number one pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko, and somehow if he’s victorious, that accomplishment may also get discredited. If Devin Haney is able to defeat the 35-year-old Ukrainian boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko, his critics may use the excuse of Devin winning the fight due to his size advantage and because of Lomachenko being too old and past his prime.
Devin Haney is an undefeated fighter, but he keeps taking losses in the respect category. For example, Haney is currently the reigning undisputed lightweight champion, but the WBA (regular) lightweight titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis is considered by many to be the new face of boxing.
In order to enhance his legacy and garner the respect that he rightfully deserves, Devin Haney needs an impressive performance against Vasiliy Lomachenko, and he needs to follow it up by challenging Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Devin Haney managed to conquer a division, but yet a boxer who competes in his division is being recognized as the face of boxing. The undisputed lightweight champion hasn’t been given the respect he deserves, so now he needs to go out and take it.
If Devin Haney is fortunate enough to defeat Lomachenko, he should immediately call out Tank Davis because, like the iconic wrestler Ric Flair used to always say, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.”