Oleksandr Usyk was apparently as outraged as many other viewers who tuned into the recent undisputed light heavyweight championship between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Oakland, California’s Haney retained his four 135-pound belts with a unanimous decision over Ukraine’s Lomachenko last month at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Their highly competitive fight sparked widespread outrage, with many people—from regular fans to celebrities such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Nelly—insisting Lomachenko deserved to win.
Not surprisingly, Usyk, the unified heavyweight champion and a close friend of the 35-year-old Lomachenko, also joined the dissenting chorus.
“115-113 in favor of Loma, that is my scorecard,” Usyk told SecondsOut in an interview that was interpreted by Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk. “I am sure that Vasiliy Lomachenko was robbed in this fight.”
Usyk said he believes the judges simply gave Haney, 24, the benefit of the doubt.
“I think it was just poor judging,” Usyk said when asked to identify a reason for the verdict. “They [paved] the way for a young kid to go forward [in his career] and they didn’t appreciate the efforts of a longtime champion, a very skilled performer, Vasiliy Lomachenko—his efforts were not appreciated. That’s my opinion.”
After the fight Lomachenko was captured on camera beginning to break down in tears in the locker room. Asked to address that moment, Usyk said he was moved by the show of emotion and denied that it made his friend look “weak.”
“That’s my brother,” Usyk said. “The emotional moment we all witnessed after the fight, when we saw tears on Vasiliy’s face, was probably the result of his talks with his son. He probably felt that he couldn’t comply with his son’s expectations for becoming the undisputed [champion]. It’s not weakness when a warrior like Vasiliy cries. There’s not bad about him. It shows how strong he is. And sometimes I cry myself.”
Usyk is set to defend his WBO, WBA, IBF, and IBO titles against mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois on Aug. 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.