LAS VEGAS – Devin Haney felt giving Vasiliy Lomachenko an opportunity to fight for his four lightweight titles was the right thing to do.
Haney explained during their final press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand Garden Arena that he realizes he wouldn’t have received his shot at George Kambosos Jr.’s belts if Lomachenko hadn’t turned down that fight to remain in his home country of Ukraine at the onset of its war with Russia. The undefeated, undisputed 135-pound champion was contractually obligated to box Kambosos in an immediate rematch in Australia, but Haney could’ve fought someone other than Lomachenko in the final fight of his three-bout contract with co-promoters Top Rank Inc. and DiBella Entertainment.
The 24-year-old Haney embraced the Lomachenko fight in part because he admitted that beating the three-division champion Saturday night would be especially gratifying for him because he believes Lomachenko avoided him.
“It’s very personal,” Haney told a small group of reporters. “He’s somebody that ducked me for four years, that started the franchise stuff, that whole whatever. You know, he’s somebody who I was calling [out]. He wouldn’t say my name for a long time. Now that he’s hungry, he’s thirsty, you know, now he wants the fight. But it’s OK because I know I’m the better fighter.”
Lomachenko dismissed Haney’s claim that the two-time Olympic gold medalist avoided him. The 35-year-old Lomachenko recalled that he wanted to become the fully unified lightweight champion and that Teofimo Lopez owned the IBF lightweight title, the only 135-pound crown Lomachenko needed, at that time.
“It’s not personal,” Lomachenko said. “You need to understand. [My manager] Egis [Klimas] explained [during the press conference], four years ago [Haney] was a top boxer, he was a good boxer. But he was without a belt. My goal was four belts. I chased. I had three belts and I need, at that moment, I needed just one more belt.
“It was IBF and Lopez [held] this belt. That’s why we organized this fight with Lopez. But we can’t organize [it] with [Haney] because he [wanted] this fight. He wasn’t on my mind because my dream was four belts. After that, if I [had] four belts and he will be a contender, of course, no problem.”
Lomachenko defeated England’s Luke Campbell by unanimous decision to win the then-vacant WBC lightweight title in August 2019 at O2 Arena in London. Lomachenko left the ring that night with the WBA, WBC and WBO belts.
Less than two weeks later, Haney stopped Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev in the fourth round to win the WBC interim lightweight title at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Haney was declared the WBC’s mandatory challenger for Lomachenko’s championship, but Lomachenko was designated its “franchise” champion in October 2019 and the WBC elevated Haney from interim champ to world champ.
Lomachenko and Lopez, who are both promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, fought in October 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center. In large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lomachenko didn’t box during the 13½ months between beating Campbell and losing to Lopez.
Lopez beat Lomachenko by unanimous decision and contended that he should’ve been recognized as the undisputed lightweight champion. He also taunted Haney by calling him the WBC “email champion.”
Haney believes he, too, would’ve beaten Lomachenko had they boxed back then.
“I would’ve won then,” Haney said, “but I’m gonna win even better now.”
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) is listed by most sportsbooks as more than a 2-1 favorite to beat Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in their ESPN Pay-Per-View main event. Their 12-round, 135-pound championship match will headline a three-bout broadcast from MGM Grand Garden Arena (10 p.m. EDT; 7 p.m. PDT; $59.99).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.