By Matt Lieberman: In a move that looked almost theatrical, like a 100% premeditated act, Devin Haney violently shoved a silent Vasyl Lomachenko during their face-off at the weigh-in today.
Looking like a stage actor, undisputed lightweight champion Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) shoved challenger Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) hard enough to whiplash his neck like he’d been in a car accident and sent him flying backward approximately six feet on the stage.
The stunned Lomachenko didn’t have enough time to react to the shove before Haney disappeared from the stage like an actor saying his lines and exiting, making sure he didn’t bump into any stage props along the way.
Devin shoves Loma to increase PPV buys
Haney took a page out of the playbook of Canelo Alvarez, who shoved Caleb Plant during their face-off at their kickoff press conference in 2021.
The difference with that incident is Canelo stood his ground when Plant came back and attempted to slap him with a left hook. Canelo blocked the shot and nailed Plant with a right hand to the head, sending his sunglasses flying. Unlike Canelo, Haney fled the stage, having accomplished his planned goal.
To say this wasn’t a planned move on Haney’s part is naivety because it clearly something that he or perhaps his team thought out to create more interest and additional pay-per-view buys on ESPN.
“That right there just builds more for tomorrow,” said George Kambosos Jr to Fighthype, reacting to Devin Haney giving Vasyl Lomachenko a hard push during their face-off today at the weigh-in for Saturday’s contest in Las Vegas.
“He’s pumped up. This was a pretty big moment,” said Kambosos when asked why Haney pushed Lomachenko. “It’s going to be interesting tomorrow.
“He normally doesn’t do that, but he’s pumped up. I’m sure Loma is pumped up for the fight too. It’s going to be a great fight. It could be the mindset of Haney, wanting to really get under the skin of Loma.
“It could be Haney showing him, ‘I’m here. I’m ready to show him what I got,’ or it could be other things that are going into it too. It’s a big fight, there’s a lot of emotion, and there’s a lot on the line.
“There’s a lot of pressure on both sides. Maybe he said, ‘I’m going to try and get under the skin of him’ or it’s the moment and it happened. Devin is obviously the bigger man with the six-inch reach difference.
“Loma looks solid too. He’s got a bit of size on him as well, but the physical aspect, obviously Haney has that,” said Kambosos Jr.
