Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko- one of the most anticipated fights of this generation has just been made official. Haney will defend his undisputed lightweight crown against Lomachenko on Saturday, 20th May.
its official… #Boxing pic.twitter.com/7axo9NCIVg
— Steve Kim (@SteveKim323) March 28, 2023
The championship fight will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Top Rank produced clash will go live on ESPN+ PPV. The bout will see Haney defending his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and WBO 135-pound belts, against Lomachenko aiming for a colossal comeback to the lightweight throne.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has affected Lomachenko too much in terms of his performance, the former unified lightweight world champion and Olympic medalist spent his time and labor on the frontier, without being able to fight.
Nonetheless, the Ukrainian returned from his military duties to win over Jamaine Ortiz last October- Loma’s latest outing in the ring. The 35-year-old’s experience in the squared circle is expected to work in favor of him against a much younger and less experienced Haney.
“My goal is to become the undisputed lightweight champion, and Devin Haney is the man with the belts. I respect his boxing IQ and am excited for this challenge,” Lomachenko commented.
On the same notion, despite the fact that Haney is the undisputed lightweight, courtesy of his win over George Kambosos Jr last year, may believe that the Ukrainian has a better chance of winning.
Since losing his unified titles to Teofimo Lopez back in October 2020, Loma has remained undefeated and is currently on a three fight win streak. Haney, on the other hand, had been the WBC titleholder since 2019, before unifying the belts against Kambosos Jr in June last year, followed by the rematch in October.
While Lomachenko is no doubt the toughest test of his career so far, “The Dream” is up for the challenge.
“Lomachenko is a good fighter and future Hall of Fame candidate,” said Haney. “I take nothing away from him or what he has done in the sport of boxing. Although he didn’t give me a shot when I challenged him in 2019, I won’t be petty. This is the fight the fans really want, and I made it happen.”
“I’ve gotten two times better since the Kambosos rematch, and believe it or not, the better my opponent is, the better I perform. I can’t wait for this fight. I know Lomachenko has an extremely high boxing IQ, and I will show the world on May 20 that I’m the best fighter on the planet. I’m ready to defend my undisputed title in devastating fashion,” he added. [H/T Sky Sports]
