By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Devin Haney of San Francisco will be putting his IBF, WBA Super World, WBO, WBC ‘Franchise,’ and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Belts on the line against former three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine this Saturday, May 20th. The 12-rounder from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in America on ESPN pay-per-view while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Action. Haney won all of his belts other than the WBC version when beating George Kambosos last June via a unanimous decision. He then beat Kambosos again by unanimous decision again four months later. Lomachenko last fought in October when he beat Jamaine Ortiz by a 12-round unanimous decision.
Haney is just 24 years old and has evolved from being a can’t-miss prospect to a world champion following his excellent 138-bout amateur career after getting into the sport as a seven-year-old. He won a silver medal at the USA Junior National Championships in 2013 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Juniors the same year. He then won a gold medal at the 2014 US Junior National Championships and the 2015 USA Youth National Championships.
He was the youngest boxer ever to win the Youth World Championships and captured a total of seven national titles along the way. Haney, who was born in San Francisco and fights out of Las Vegas, then turned pro in December of 2015 as a 16-year-old and has a perfect record of 29-0 as a pro with 15 Ko’s and has 186 rounds under his belt. He won the WBC Interim World Title in 2019 by stopping Zaur Abdullaev and the full title in his next fight with a unanimous decision over Alfredo Santiago.
Haney defended the title by unanimous decision against Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz before beating Kambosos. He’s also won several regional and minor titles along the way including the WBC Youth World, USBA, IBF North American, WBC International, and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Belts. Haney stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 71-inch reach and possesses tremendous skills and speed with decent power with a current knockout ratio of 51.7 per cent.
However, Haney has gone the distance in his last six fights as his last stoppage came in September, 2019 when he halted Abdullaev after four rounds. His first four pro bouts took place in Mexico since he was too young to box professionally in America at the time. He’s beaten everybody in front of him so far with his toughest opponents being Kambosos, Diaz Jr., Linares, Gamboa, Santiago, Antonio Moran, Mason Menard, Juan Carlos Burgos and Xolisani Ndongeni.
The 35-year-old southpaw Lomachenko, known as ‘Hi Tech’, held the IBF, WBA and WBO Lightweight and WBO Super Featherweight and Featherweight titles earlier in his career and now fights out of Oxnard, California. He lost his lightweight belts via a controversial unanimous decision to Teofimo Lopez in October, 2020 and is now attempting to be the undisputed king at 135 lbs. He owns a pro record of 17-2 with 11 Ko’s and before losing to Lopez was generally considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Lomachenko’s first loss came at the hands of Orlando Salido by controversial split decision in March, 2014 in his second pro fight. He turned pro in 2013 after winning two Olympic gold medals for his homeland in 2008 and 2012. Lomachenko obviously enjoyed an excellent and extensive amateur career and then won the WBO Featherweight crown against Gary Russell Jr. via majority decision in June, 2014. He defended it against Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, Gamalier Rodriguez, and Romulo Koasicha before moving up in weight.
He beat Roman Martinez by fifth-round KO in June, 2016 for the Super Featherweight Title and defended it against Nicholas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux. He beat Jorge Linares for the WBA Super World Lightweight Crown by 10th-round stoppage in May, 2018 and defended it while adding the WBO Lightweight Title by unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza in December, 2018. The vacant WBC Lightweight Title was added in 2019 with a unanimous decision over a game Luke Campbell.
Lomachenko possesses fantastic footwork, speed, and accuracy with good power and overall ring generalship, which often leaves his opponents totally frustrated. The former champ has a good chin, but Linares did drop him in the sixth round. In general, Lomachenko tends to break his opponents down with solid combinations and body and head shots. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a wingspan of 65.5 inches, so gives up three inches in height and 5.5-inches in reach to Haney. He’s fought 176 rounds since turning pro with a current knockout ratio of 58 per cent.
Prediction…
Haney and Lomachenko both possess excellent boxing skills and IQ’s but Haney is 11 years younger and quite a bit bigger physically. This should be a boxing match rather than a slugfest but Lomachenko will need to get in and out and land his shots without getting tagged. Lomachenko made a mistake when he lost his titles to Lopez as he gave away the first half of the fight and will need to start throwing punches from the opening bell this time around. Lomachenko needs to throw leather in volume and from all angles to have a chance of winning. Haney has never been in a dogfight as of yet but seems to have all of the advantages here. Still, any result won’t be a surprise, including a draw as Lomachenko has the skills and determination to succeed. I’m giving Haney a slight edge though due to his age and size.
