By Sam Volz: Chris Algieri says that undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney can control his fight with Vasily Lomachenko from the outside, using his “crazy size” advantage to dominate the smaller fighter in their clash on May 20th on ESPN PPV.
Like many people, Algieri was stunned to see how much bigger Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) looked while standing side by side with the 5’7″ Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) at the kick-off press conference for their fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Haney literally looked three divisions larger than Lomachenko, who began his career as a featherweight in 2013.
If not for the 24-year-old Haney being so young and still capable of losing dramatic amounts of water weight to compete in a division well below his body frame, he’d be forced to fight at welterweight or junior middleweight.
It’s going to be next to impossible for Lomachenko to win if Haney rehydrates to 160 on the night, and he’s forced to fight a guy with a 20 lb weight advantage over him.
“This fight matters. The landscape of the lightweight division is going to be resolved with this fight, and that’s going to lead to much bigger fights. This is a much more important fight. It may not be as commercially as successful as the Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia fight, but this is still a massive fight for the implications of the pound-for-pound and lightweight division, ” said Chris Algieri to ProBox TV about the Devin Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko fight on May 20th.
“Haney is a very difficult style. He can slow the pace, and control from the outside. He has physical advantages for these weight classes. On paper, he’s tall & long and has a great jab. Fighting someone with a great jab sucks.
“Nobody wants to fight a guy that can outbox them for twelve rounds. He has a great gas tank. He’s shown that against pretty good opposition. Guys like Devin Haney, there needs to be an incentive. Unless you think you can beat him easily, which you never know. Judges can be very difficult.
“The kid hasn’t been knocked down and has only been hurt by Linares, really. He’s a tough out. Haney’s not going to make a fight with you. He’s going to box you. I’m not arguing that Lomachenko ducked anyone. What I’m saying is Haney is a duck-able guy.
“He’s mastered the fundamentals. His jab, his timing, his speed, and he’s young. When you got a guy like Haney, who is taller, longer, and fights at a distance, the range is a big issue. The guy has much longer arms, a much bigger guy.
“You talk about fighting on the inside. He doesn’t have to fight Lomachenko on the inside. He’s going to have to work so hard to get on the inside. Haney can literally grab him, spin him and push him off. The size difference is crazy. We saw that at the press conference.
“He’s not going to need to fight Lomachenko on the inside. Lomachenko is going to have to work so hard to get there. I do think he’s going to have to work hard,” said Algieri.
