Devin Haney wasn’t the least bit surprised by all of the social media backlash directed at him after he beat Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Haney has grown accustomed to such harsh criticism in recent years, so much that he thrives off of it.

“At the end of the day, you know, people love to hate me,” Haney told DAZN’s Chris Mannix for an “Off The Cuff” segment that was released recently. “You know, I don’t know what it is.”

The undefeated former undisputed lightweight champion smiled and assured Mannix that playing the role of villain doesn’t bother him.

“Nah, I mean, it is what it is,” Haney said during a promotional preview of his showdown with Regis Prograis on December 9. “I mean, I embrace it now because what can I do? I’m me. You know, it wouldn’t be right if they did it any other way. If they were showing me too much love, I’d be like, ‘What’s up with these guys? They think I’m not the real deal or something?’

“So, it is what it is. They hate the greats and then after they respect them and they applaud them. So, they can say what they wanna say. I know what type of fighter I am, secure in myself and Imma keep beating whoever they put in front of me, one by one.”

The 25-year-old Haney has established himself as one of the top 10 fighters, pound-for-pound, in boxing.

The former IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 135-pound champion dominated George Kambosos Jr. (21-2, 10 KOs) in back-to-back 12-round lightweight title fights in Kambosos’ home country of Australia during a four-month span last year. He then edged Ukraine’s Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) in a very competitive match May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Judge Dave Moretti scored eight rounds for Haney, who won 116-112 on his scorecard. Judges Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland scored seven rounds apiece for Haney, who won 115-113 according to them.

“It was definitely a tough fight,” Haney told Mannix. “It was my toughest fight up to date. But, you know, it was a competitive fight, but, you know, that’s what people get confused at. They say competitive fights in boxing are robberies. They mistake them for robberies, when, if it’s a close fight, it’s not a robbery. You know, which I definitely feel like I won the fight. I banked a lot of the early rounds and he had, you know, two big rounds that, you know, made a lotta people think that, you know, he did a lot more than he did. But the last round is the round that I needed, and I took it.”

Haney (30-0, 15 KOs), of Henderson, Nevada, has moved up to the 140-pound division to challenge Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs), a New Orleans native who resides in Katy, Texas, for the powerful southpaw’s WBC super lightweight title. Their 12-round fight will headline a DAZN Pay-Per-View show from Chase Center in San Francisco, the home arena of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors ($74.99).

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