By Jim Calfa: Jeff Mayweather believes Vasyl Lomachenko isn’t focused on his fight with Devin Haney on Saturday because he seemed disengaged mentally during the final press conference this week, concentrating a lot on his home country of Ukraine.
Jeff says Lomachenko didn’t seem like he cared much about this fight, and he feels that’s going to be reflected when he challenges Haney for his undisputed lightweight championship this Saturday, May 20th at the MGM Grand Garden Areena in Las Vegas. The event will be shown on ESPN+ PPV for $59.99.
It’s understandable why Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) would be distracted because his country is in a war with Russia.
Haney & Loma need to take risks
“I don’t think it’s disrespectful. He basically got thrown up into the rankings without really doing anything,” said Jeff Mayweather to Mayweather Channel about Vasyl Lomachenko.
“Just because you were a great amateur, you didn’t do anything. You didn’t do anything on the pro level.
“Devin worked extremely hard to get to where he’s at. I think Lomachenko is a great fighter, but there’s a huge size difference. I know Devin said he was as high as 156 pounds, and that could backfire on him.
“I don’t think you want to get that big. You got to lose 20 lbs to make your weight class. That’s probably not planned. I think that may have just happened,” said Mayweather about Haney weighing 156.
“They’re both boxers and when you have two boxers, it’s kind of a boring fight unless you’re a person that really loves boxing. So it could be a fight that’s not that exciting, but then again, it depends.
“Somebody is going to have to take risks. Devin is the world champion, so his belts are on the line. He’s going to have to work hard to defend his title. Lomachenko is going to have to do something. When he fought Teofimo Lopez, he did absolutely nothing.
Haney will use size against Lomachenko
“Devin is a guy that knows how to box, and their styles are kind of similar. I think Devin is going to use his range, his distance, his height, and his physical size against him.
“That could actually happen because it all depends on the weight that he took off of him. Was that his regular size?” said Mayweather when asked if it could work against Haney if he takes a ton of weight off to make 135 and then puts it back on when he rehydrates.
“I don’t think he’s trying to make himself much bigger than he is because Devin is young and is still growing. I think that when you’re growing, you don’t know if the weight is going to affect you.
“You don’t know until you get in the ring. He might have put himself in a position where he could be drained. But I’m not looking to give him any excuse. I think both guys are 100% and are going in there to fight.
“I think that Devin is going to win. He’s craftier than Lomachenko. I don’t base it on his fight with Teofimo. He did absolutely nothing, and that was one of the biggest fights of his career, and he did absolutely nothing,” said Mayweather.
Does Loma care about this fight?
“So, he can’t get into a fight with Devin Haney and not do nothing at all,” said Jeff. “It seemed like to me at the press conference; he was more worried about his country than the fight itself. It’s almost like the fight didn’t mean anything to him.
“Don’t get me wrong. That is more important than a fight, but still, he seemed like he didn’t care at all, and I don’t know if that’s going to show up in the fight night. On the fight night, if that shows up, he probably doesn’t care if he wins or loses.
“I’m telling him to use his skill set and his physical size,” said Mayweather when asked what he’d tell Haney if he were his trainer for this fight to his advantage.
“Whether his weight that he put on or his weight that he lost, he’s physically bigger than Lomachenko. He’s bigger than him. So, I think that’s going to play a part.
“I think Devin wins the fight by decision. I don’t think either guy is that big of a puncher. Maybe we’ll see a surprise, but I think both guys are very clever. Both guys are great boxers.
“I don’t see anyone getting knocked out, but anything can happen in boxing,” said Jeff.
