LAS VEGAS – Devin Haney feels his performance Saturday night more than proved he is an elite-level boxer.

In fact, the sport’s undefeated, fully unified lightweight champion claimed that his unanimous points win against Vasiliy Lomachenko demonstrated that he is worthy of the number one spot on pound-for-pound lists. Haney retained his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 135-pound titles against undoubtedly the best opponent he has faced since the 24-year-old champion made his pro debut in December 2015.

Haney explained that he deserves a lot of credit for the manner in which he defeated Lomachenko, even though their 12-round fight included several close rounds that could’ve gone either way.

“I fought by far the toughest competitor [I’ve fought], a future Hall-of-Famer,” Haney said during his post-fight press conference. “I fought a different fight than you guys ever saw me fight. I took it to him, invested in the body, hurt him to the body, showed my versatility in the ring. I felt like I definitely, you know, proved myself, and that I am one of the best fighters in the world. I feel like I’m number one pound-for-pound with the type of performance I did against at one point the guy who was number one pound-for-pound.”

Ukraine’s Lomachenko is 35, but he also performed impressively in what was a very competitive, action-packed clash that Haney won on all three scorecards at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Judge Dave Moretti (116-112) scored eight rounds for Haney, who won seven rounds apiece according to judges Tim Cheatham (115-113) and David Sutherland (115-113).

Haney’s contention about where he belongs on subjective pound-for-pound lists is sure to draw backlash from fans who don’t think he deserved to win against Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs).

BoxingScene.com has Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) at number nine on its most recent pound-for-pound list.

The Ring didn’t list Haney in its newest top 10, but Lomachenko came in at number seven. ESPN.com has Haney ranked 10th on its current pound-for-pound list.

Neither BoxingScene.com nor ESPN.com have Lomachenko on its lists. All three aforementioned pound-for-pound rankings were posted prior to the Haney-Lomachenko fight.

While opinions obviously will vary as to where Haney belongs among boxing’s best pound-for-pound, he employed a more entertaining style Saturday night than usual against an experienced, intelligent southpaw who is generally regarded as one of the best boxers of this generation. The Henderson, Nevada resident figures to get much more credit historically for this performance than his back-to-back points victories against Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. (20-2, 10 KOs), from whom Haney won his four lightweight titles.

Whatever fans feel about the scoring of their ESPN Pay-Per-View main event, Haney believes he validated his championship reign by beating Lomachenko, who won world titles in three weight classes and two Olympic gold medals. Though Haney wants to fight Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) and Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs), the Oakland native doesn’t think he has anything left to prove in the lightweight division.

“I proved myself tonight against, you know, a future Hall-of-Famer and I’m the guy in the weight class,” Haney said. “So, it’s like how much more do you guys want me to prove? It’s like you guys want me to keep proving and proving and proving and proving until I can’t prove anymore. I’ve been at 135 since I was 16 years old. We just gotta see what’s next, but eventually I’m gonna move up.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.