By Jim Calfa: Devin Haney will be facing the toughest opponent of his eight-year professional career against former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th at the MGM Grand, live on ESPN+ PPV.
Paulie Malignaggi notes that Haney has talked about fighting a lot of good fighters, but he’s found a way not to fight any of them. Instead, the best names on Haney’s resume are George Kambosos Jr, Jorge Linares, and Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Malignaggi says Linares and Gamboa were both shot when Haney fought them, which means the only notable name on his resume is Kambosos Jr, who is not viewed among the best in the lightweight division.
If not for Lomachenko turning down the Kambosos Jr fight when he went to war, Haney wouldn’t have gotten his opportunity to win a world title.
Lomachenko likely would have beaten Kambosos to become the undisputed lightweight champion, and Haney would have needed to fight him last year.
For someone who hasn’t faced cutting-edge opposition, Haney receives a lot of respect from boxing fans and the media, talked about as if he’s a proven fighter when in reality, he’s still not faced top-5 opposition.
Would Haney be the undisputed lightweight champion if he fought these fighters?
- Shakur Stevenson
- Gervonta Davis
- Ryan Garcia
- Frank Martin
- Vasily Lomachenko
- William Zepeda
- Isaac Cruz
- Jamaine Ortiz
- Gustavo Lomos
Lomachenko battles for Haney’s undisputed title
“I wouldn’t say my mind has changed, but I will say as the fight has gotten closer and the fight has gotten delayed. I think every advantage as the fight has gotten delayed is for Haney because he’s the younger fighter,” said Paulie Malignaggi on Paulie TV about the May 20th fight between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko.
“Haney is a guy who really hasn’t been tested yet. When I say [Jermell] Charlo getting to the undisputed title in the most difficult ways in a tough weight class where he had to unify against very tough fighters, and he still has to defend against very tough fighters.
“Haney is kind of the opposite. He had a very easy route coming up. His best opponents were way, way past their primes to the point where you couldn’t even compare them when they were in their primes when he fought them.
“He didn’t look particularly great against them, but he beat them, and then he walked into the George Kambosos fight. Give George Kambosos credit. He had the undisputed title, and Haney took it from him. I still haven’t seen Haney do anything to try and get a tough fight. He’s talked about a tough fight, but he hasn’t tried to get a tough fight,” said Malignaggi.
Haney’s toughest fight of his career
“So this is interesting. I think it’s the toughest fight of his career, and it’s coming at a good point,” Malignaggi said about Haney. “He’s going to deserve a lot of credit if he wins it, but it’s not a fight where I can say Loma definitely wins it.
“Loma, at this point, is a little older, and he’s had his biggest problems at 135. But he’s fighting a guy to me that has shown that he wants the tough fights,” said Malignaggi about Haney.
“He’s shown me that he wants to talk about the tough fights, but he doesn’t actually want them. They’re going to fight on May 20th, so it’ll definitely be interesting. I think this is going to be a good fight for all the intangible reasons. Haney is unproven, and Loma has looked a little bit subpar.
“I’ll go back and say that Jamaine Ortiz would probably be the toughest fight on Haney’s record too. Jamaine Ortiz is better than anybody that Haney has fought. Haney hasn’t fought anybody as good as Jamaine Ortiz, let alone as good as other guys that Lomachenko has beaten.
“So again, this is why this is so much up in the air. We don’t really know who Haney is yet. We know he’s a skilled fighter and a good fighter. We don’t know how far he can raise his game yet because we haven’t seen him in a fight where when your level has to be raised, you can take it there,” Malignaggi said.
Lomachenko isn’t done yet
“I think this fight is going to tell us a little more about Haney if he can raise his game to a little bit of a higher level before he goes to the 140-lb division,” said Malignaggi. “Lomachenko, even though it’s the right time to get Lomachenko, I don’t think he’s completely done yet.
“Lomachenko has unfinished business. He was supposed to get the Kambosos fight, but he turned it down for the war. So, I feel a piece of him feels that the only reason Haney won a title was because of him.
“So, I feel he’s got that mindset where he’s going to go get what’s his. So there are a lot of intangibles in this fight. I look forward to it. I think if Haney beats Lomachenko, that’s a very good win. I know you’ll have the critics saying that Loma was a little old, but it doesn’t matter.
“Loma, even now [is better than anyone Haney has fought]. Haney fought Gamboa and Linares when they were completely shot. You can’t even acknowledge those wins as him beating those guys. They were totally shot, but Lomachenko is not.
“Lomachenko had a tough fight against Jamaine Ortiz, but it made me rate Jamaine Ortiz higher because Jamaine Ortiz showed me some things in that fight that showed me that he’s a dangerous guy.
“Jamaine Ortiz already had a draw against Joseph Adorno, and Joseph Adorno is from the North East, and I know him and his family. That kid can fight, bro, so if you have a draw with Joseph Adorno.
“Jamaine was already proven going into the Lomachenko fight. Teofimo is a guy that takes tough fights. It’s almost the opposite of Haney. Haney has talked about a lot of tough fights, but he’s managed to escape them,” said Malignaggi.
