Jamaine Ortiz: “I should be fighting Devin Haney, I won against Lomachenko”

By Boxing News - 04/10/2023 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Jamaine Ortiz feels he should be fighting Devin Haney next for his undisputed lightweight championship, not Vasily Lomachenko, because he thinks he deserved the victory last October in his fight against Loma in New York.

In a fight tougher than expected, Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) was dominated by the much bigger, faster, stronger, and younger Jamaine (16-1-1, 8 KOs) through the first seven rounds.

When the 26-year-old Jamaine gassed out beginning in the eighth, Lomachenko came on and appeared to get the better of him in four out of the last five rounds to get the win. The judges scored the fight 115–113, 116–112, and 117–111, all for Loma.

Ortiz feels that at the “bare minimum,” he should be fighting at least on the undercard of Haney vs. Lomachenko. It’s unclear why Jamaine isn’t fighting on that card, as it would make sense to have him on there.

Of course, if he were added to the card, it would be a constant reminder of Lomachenko’s less-than-stellar performance against Jamaine.

Regarding prediction, Jamaine is picking Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) to beat Lomachenko on May 20th in their headliner on ESPN+ PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Jamaine feels that Haney will use his jab to defeat Lomachenko, which he used to beat George Kambosos Jr in his last fight.

Jamaine says that he gave Lomachenko a lot of problems with his jab and kept him at bay, unable to do much until the later rounds. He doesn’t feel that he created the blueprint on how to beat Lomachenko, but he thinks that the jab is how you do it.

Ortiz picks Haney to defeat Lomachenko

“I think it’s going to be a challenging fight, but  I’ve got Devin Haney winning. I just think he’s the bigger guy. He’s got a nice, strong jab, but I think Lomachenko will be able to bring some things to the table to make it an interesting fight,” said Jamaine Ortiz to Fighthype.

“In the sense with the jab, yeah,” said Jamaine when asked if he created the blueprint on how to beat Lomachenko. “I established the jab and kept him at bay with the jab. I wouldn’t say it was the blueprint.

“It was a jab that kept him at bay, and if you keep doing that [you’ll beat Lomachenko]. Devin Haney showed that he has a great jab against [George] Kambosos. He beat Kambosos with just a jab. If he keeps that jab with Lomachenko, I think it’ll be an easy night for him.

“No, I think he’s the exact same fighter,” Jamaine when asked if Lomachenko is still the same fighter that he sparred with him in the past. “A lot of people were saying that he was down, but nobody was saying that when he fought Richard Commey before me [in December 2021].

“They talk about a long layoff, but what is considered a long layoff of all these pro fighters? Maybe a year and a half, but most of these fighters fight once a year, twice a year at max. A ten-month layoff to me [for Lomachenko] is not really a layoff.

“I do think,” said Jamaine when asked if he feels that he should be the one fighting Devin Haney next on May 20th, not Lomachenko. In other words, Jamaine thinks he deserved the win against Lomachenko in their fight last October in New York.

“I feel like I should be fighting Devin Haney. I feel like I won against Lomachenko, and at the bare minimum, I should have been on that [May 20th] card as well. If Lomachenko ends up winning against Devin Haney, I’d love the rematch,” said Jamaine Ortiz.

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