Count Oscar De La Hoya as one of apparently a legion of viewers who believed Vasiliy Lomachenko should have been awarded a decision over Devin Haney.

Last Saturday night, Haney successfully held onto his four 135-pound belts with a unanimous points win over Lomachenko at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on ESPN Pay-Per-View. A thoroughly competitive outing, the fight was nevertheless the subject of intense debate afterward, as the public seemed divided about the verdict. All three judges had it for the 24-year-old Haney, with scores of 116-112 (Dave Moretti), 115-113 (Tim Cheatham), and 115-113 (David Sutherland).

De La Hoya, the Hall of Fame fighter and head of Golden Boy Promotions, sat ringside for the fight and believed that Lomachenko not only deserved to win but deserved to win with a margin of eight rounds to four.

“Well, look, I was there, front row, center, I was watching the fight carefully,” De La Hoya told InsideFighting. “I had Lomachenko—and I love Haney, he’s one of the master boxers in the sport today—I had Lomachenko 8-4. Literally 8-4. Seven-five, at worst. Yeah, it was pretty bad.

“Hands down, Loma won. I was ringside, first row. I was just being a fan of these two guys. I wanted to watch this fight because it’s the undisputed world title fight. They don’t come very often. I was studying the fight carefully and trust me Loma won.”

Prominent figures from the boxing and larger sporting world voiced their outrage at the scorecards, especially with the one submitted by judge Moretti, who had scored the 10th round in favor of Haney—a round that was considered to be one of Lomachenko's best.

After the fight, Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager, stated that he would file a protest on behalf of his client with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

De La Hoya agrees with that move.

“I would appeal it,” De La Hoya said. “They have a good enough case. I mean, you can watch that fight over and over and over again. It was 8-4, or 7-5, I mean, at worst.”

At the same time, De La Hoya thinks Lomachenko is better off “moving on."

“If I was Loma, I would just move on to the next because I think the world knows that he won,” De La Hoya said. “Not even a rematch. I think Haney is now going to have that doubt in his head that he lost to Loma and could affect him against other opponents, like Shakur Stevenson.

“[Lomachenko] was landing a lot more punches. He was not only pressing the action, but he was landing a lot more effective punches and that’s how you win fights.”