By Brian Webber: Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney says he never said he wouldn’t give Vasily Lomachenko a rematch.
Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) states that he would fight the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) again if it “makes sense.”
The main issue that would prevent Haney from pulling the trigger on a rematch against the 35-year-old Lomachenko is money.
Devin will want a bump in pay from their previous contest against Lomachenko, which he won by a controversial twelve round unanimous decision on May 20th by the scores 115-113, 116-112, and 115-113.
Given how poor Haney looked against Loma, he should take a massive pay cut rather than an increase.
For ordinary people working 9-5 jobs, when they perform poorly, they would get laughed out of their bosses’ office if they attempted to get a raise. They’re lucky if they’re not laid off.
Unfortunately, the Haney-Lomachenko didn’t bring in a lot of PPV buys, which means a rematch will probably not bring in massive numbers, either.
Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum would need to gamble on high fan interest for a rematch, and that would be a bad risk on his part.
When fans pay to see fights that end in controversy where one guy is robbed, they avoid the rematch because they don’t want to get ripped off again. As the saying goes, “Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me.”
If Haney would be willing to accept a person, a rematch could happen, but he’s probably not going to do that.
Haney’s wins over Lomachnko and George Kambosos Jr could turn him into a Tyson Fury type of fighter who is difficult to negotiate with due to his inflated sense of self-worth.
“I never said I wouldn’t fight him again. My dad said I’d never fight him again. I never said I would, or I wouldn’t fight him again. I’ll fight anybody if it makes sense and everything aligns, and it makes sense,” said Devin Haney to The Danza Project when asked about a rematch with Vasily Lomachenko.
One thing about me, if I can beat somebody once, I can beat them twice. Nothing’s come across my table that makes sense yet, but if it does, then it does.”
It’s safe to say that Haney will NEVER fight Lomachenko again and will attempt to get fights against Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez & Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
If Haney overprices himself for those fights, he’ll wind up empty-handed and will need to target Regis Prograis and Subriel Matias. Those are fights that Haney could lose, so he’ll only fight those guys if he’s struck out with his attempts at getting fights with Tank, Ryan, Teofimo & Rolly.
Haney’s best wins are less than stellar, beating the aforementioned Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. Devin didn’t fight any of the killers at 135 by facing these guys.
- Gervonta Davis
- Shakur Stevenson
- Keyshawn Davis
- Raymond Muratalla
- Isaac Cruz
- Frank Martin
- William Zepeda
- Floyd Schofield
- Jamaine Ortiz
Haney swerved all those guys at 135, and it’s understandable why because many of them would likely beat him.
