By Mark Eisner: Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) retained his titles with a twelve round unanimous decision win over former three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The scores were 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112. Haney gassed out in the championship rounds, appearing to lose rounds 9, 10, and 11 before coming on to take round 12 due to Lomachenko not letting his hands go. Boxing News 24 had Haney edging it 115-113.
It was a close enough contest to warrant a rematch, but that’s not likely to happen. Top Rank, if they re-sign Haney, they’ll surely match him against Shakur Stevenson next if he doesn’t move up to 140.
Undercard results:
- Oscar Valdez (31-1, 23 KOs) had a more challenging time than expected, beating Adam “BluNose” Lopez (16-5, 6 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision in a fight that was closer than the scores handed in by the judges. In their long-awaited rematch, Valdez was outworked by ‘Blue Nose’ Lopez, but he landed the harder shots. In the 10th, Lopeez suffered a nose injury from a clash of heads, allowing Valdeez to take advantage of the situation to land many shots. The judge’s scores were 98-92, 98-91, 97-93. Valdez was coming off a year layoff after his loss to Shakur Stevenson in April 2o22. After tonight’s fight, Valdez called out WBO 130-lb champion Emanuel Navarrete, letting him know he was coming.
- Undefeated lightweight Raymond Muratalla (18-0, 15 KOs) obliterated the normally resilient Jeremia Nakathila (23-3, 19 KOs), stopping him in the second round. The heavy-handed 26-year-old Muratlla trapped Nakathilia against the ropes in the second round and badly hurt him. Muratalla then landed four headshots, prompting referee Robert Hoyle to step in and halt the fight. The time was 2:48. Nakathilia had been out of the ring for a year since stopping former world champion Miguel Berchlt in the sixth round in March 2022. It’s unclear why Nakathilia chose to stay inactive for 14 months, but he made a big mistake in selecting Muratalla as his opponent after that long layoff. Interestingly, Muratalla isn’t talked about when boxing fans mention the best fighters in the division. After tonight’s performance, maybe that’ll change.
- In a fight that should have been on the PPV portion of tonight’s card, former WBO 112-lb champion Junto Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs) scored a highlight reel twelfth round knockout over the game but badly outgunned Andrew Moloney (25-3, 16 KOs) to capture the vacant WBO super flyweight title. Nakatani landed a beautiful looping left hand to the head of the 32-year-old Moloney in the 12th to get the knockout. Earlier in the fight, the 24-year-old Nakatania knocked Moloney down with a series of powerful uppercuts in the second round. In round eleven, Nakatani caught Moloney with a left to the head to drop him for the second time in the contest. Finally, in the 12th, Moloney had nothing left and was finished off by the hard-hitting Nakatani. Some believe that the popular Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez purposefully waited until Nakatani vacated his WBO 112-lb title before fighting for that belt recently. After seeing the way Nakatani beat up Moloney tonight, it’s not surprising that ‘Bam’ Rodriguez chose to go after the WBO flyweight title AFTER he vacated it. Jesse would have been food for this killer.
- Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (8-0-1, 5 KOs) fought to a disappointing eight round draw against journeyman Danny Rosenberger (13-9-5, 4 KOs). The scores were 77-75 for Nico, 77-75 for Rosenberger, and 75-75. Nico spent much of the night trying to line the elusive Rosenberger up for one of his powerful right hand shots, but he couldn’t pin him down. On the bright side, at least Nico didn’t lose, but he didn’t look good. Rosenberger exposed him a little bit tonight.
- Lightweight prospect Emiliano Fernando Vargas (5-0, 4 KOs) knocked out Rafael Jasso (3-1, 1 KO) in the second round. In the second round, the 19-year-old Emiliano, the son of former world champion Fernando Vagas, knocked Jasson down with a body shot. It was a beautiful left hand to the body, which is one of Emiliano’s favorite shots. The referee then waived it off at 1:41 of round two.
- Featherweight Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz (9-0, 3 KOs) beat Luis Saavedra (9-9, 3 KO’s) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.
- Unbeaten lightweight Abdullah Mason (8-0, 7 KOs) defeated Desmond Lyons (8-3, 2 KOs) by a sixth round knockout. In the sixth, referee Robert Hoyle pulled a plug in the mismatch after Mason unloaded with a storm of shots against the helpless Lyons.
- Middleweight prospect Amari Jones (9-0, 8 KOs) blasted out Chino Hill (8-3-1, 6 KO’s) in the sixth round. The 21-year-old Jones battered Hill, hitting him at will from round two until the sixth, when referee Mike Ortega called a halt to the bout. The time of the stoppage was at 1:16 of the sixth.
Preview: Valdez vs. Lopez II is a fight that arguably doesn’t deserve to be the co-feature on a pay-per-view card.
Top Rank is likely counting on boxing fans being eager to watch the popular former two-division world champion Oscar fight, even if it’s not against a contender or champion.
Valdez, 32, lost his last fight, so he must get a confidence booster before taking on WBO 130-lb champion Emanuel Navarrete.
It would be a bad sign if Valdez labor to bear Lopez tonight because this is the kind of guy he needs to dominate to be taken seriously as a threat to beating Navarrete.
Max Kellerman: “Devin Haney has come off to me to be mature beyond his years in the last couple of weeks,” Kellerman said on Max on Boxing. “The way he comports himself and to the core, he seems confident.”
Andre Ward: “Two weeks ago, when I went to talk to him, that was my takeaway, and when I spoke to him this week, that was my takeaway.
“Devin Haney is carrying himself like an undisputed champion. He doesn’t seem too high, and he doesn’t seem too unconfident. When he speaks, I believe him, and with Lomachenko, he’s the old wily veteran who has been humbled a little bit by the game, the loss, the layoff, and the reaction to losing from fans and media.
“His ego seems to be tamed. He seems like the old wise one, who’s walking around knowing something that we don’t.”
Kellerman: “Exactly. It seems like Lomachenko is sitting there like, ‘Okay, I’m a two-and-a-half to-one dog. Okay, we’ll see.'”
Tim Bradley: “A few weeks ago, we had an appetizer. We had Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia. They were fighting for bragging rights, but this week, we have the main course meals.
“You have two fighters in their prime. Lomachenko and Devin Haney for the undisputed championship of the world. It doesn’t get any better than this. This right here is what legacies are built on and how you get to the Hall of Fame.”
Kellerman: “Both guys and their fathers have conducted business for their son’s fights as if they have their eye for their legacies. They both want to leave their mark, and fights like this do it.
“He’s [Haney] prepping the referee on fight to where the inside seems to be Lomachenko’s distance compared to the long-armed Haney.”
Bradley: “He’s trying to get to the ref, but he’s worried about Lomachenko getting to the inside because that’s what Haney does. He ties you up. If he’s not allowed to tie you up and break cleanly, if Lomachenko comes at him, he could be in some trouble.
“I think he’s making the ref aware so he can have somewhat of an advantage on the inside.”
Andre Ward: “That’s the most intimate form of combat [fighting on the inside] in the boxing space. It’s one thing when you’re at range, but when you’re forehead to forehead, nose to nose, most guys, even decorated champions, they don’t want to be there because they haven’t been taught how to be there.
“With Loma, I don’t think Loma is dirty fighter. I just think when Loma has a free hand, he’s going to use it. Anywhere on the side of your face, your chin, your temple, it’s free game.
“In fact, the referee will tell you to punch your way out of a clinch. Use your free hand. I don’t like the fact that Haney is speaking out against it. I don’t mind Bill, the trainer, and father speaking out against it.
“Play both sides. Get ahead of the story. Sew seeds into the mind of the referee so he’s overactive to what Loma is doing, But in terms of Haney, if you don’t like something that Loma is doing, do something about it. Make him stop.”
Devin Haney will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO & Ring Magazine lightweights tonight on ESPN+ PPV against Vasyl Lomachenko at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. The main pay-per-view portion of the Haney vs. Lomachenko card starts at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The preliminary part of the card begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.