By Dan Ambrose: Roy Jones Jr says there needs to be a rematch between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko to clear up the controversy of their fight last Saturday night.
Jones says he thought the fight should have been scored as a draw, not as a twelve round unanimous decision win for Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) as the three Nevada judges scored.
At the same time, Jones Jr understands that Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) didn’t take the belt from Haney by taking his foot off the accelerator in the twelfth and giving the round to him. With as much amateur experience as the 35-year-old Lomachenko has, he should have known better.
Haney is unlikely to give Lomachenko a rematch because he’s looking for money fights, and it’s too risky facing Loma again after the way he got the better of him. The judges might not give it to Haney the next time with another controversial decision.
Haney wants Gervonta Davis next, and if he can’t get him, he’ll try for Ryan Garcia or the Josh Taylor vs. Teofimo Lopez winner. The two fighters that we know Haney won’t fight next are Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson because they’re too risky.
Haney-Lomachenko should run it back
“I thought the fight could have gone either way, which is why I would have given it a draw, and with a draw, the champion [Haney] does keep his belt, and we go back and redo it,” said Roy Jones Jr to Fighthype in giving his thoughts on last Saturday’s Devin Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko bout.
“Because there’s so much controversy, these guys should not move. Let’s keep boxing going while it’s going. Because of the controversy, everyone will want to see it again. That calls for a great pay-per-view fight.
“That boxing is all about. Making money but giving fans their money’s worth. There are arguments on both sides that each guy won the fight. If you look at Loma’s shots to the head, you say, ‘He landed more shots to the head, but Haney was landing more shots overall because he was landing body shots and headshots.
“The body shots were making Loma look a little different than what we’ve seen Loma look before, so obviously, they were effective. When you’re landing effective punches, they count. Although they don’t look good because the head isn’t involved, but they still count.
You can’t take the champ’s belt away
“Haney dominated the first half of the fight, and Loma dominated the second part of the fight. Haney came back in the last round and regained his winning ways. With that being said, you can’t take the champ’s belt away in that situation.
“If Loma would have had a twelfth round like the eleventh round was, I might have given him the win because he would have won three of the last championship rounds. He did win two of them but lost the last. Because of that, I can’t give it to you because he’s the champ.
“I can’t give it to you when he came back in the last round after being dominated in the worst round; he got dominated in the eleventh round in the whole fight. So, I can’t take his belt away from him.
“If Loma wins the last round, we got a draw. We got to do it again. I probably would have given it a draw, but I’m not mad at a Haney win because Haney was the champ, and to beat the champ, you got to take his belt.
“We didn’t see the best Devin can give because he’s young and on his way up. He’s going to learn from that fight, and that fight will make him a better fighter. So for him going into a rematch, he’ll definitely have the advantage because he’s bigger, and that fight will make him better.
“Haney has defied the odds every time, so how can you not have him on the pound-for-pound list?” said Jones Jr.
