A rivalry that started with something silly (a WBC franchise belt) ends with the only thing that really matters.

The bell will ring. 

On Saturday (ESPN PPV, 10 PM EST), a younger champion still rising to his peak will face an older, veteran former champion looking to show his peak isn’t behind him. It’s as classic a tale as boxing has. Eventually, youth always prevails. The time and place of its victory is the unknown.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has been here before. His second defeat, in a lightweight unification versus Teofimo Lopez, saw youth prevail but not in a way that declared time had really passed Lomachenko by. Youth didn’t prevail easily. Lopez established his jab and Lomachenko’s offense was stifled early, only slowly emerging in the second half of the fight. Lomachenko came on strong but it wasn’t enough to erase the deficit. 

Now Lomachenko is older, against an opponent with a better jab, better feet, and a bitter remembrance of when his mandatory shot at Lomachenko was replaced by the WBC finding a way to crown them, and collect championship sanctioning fees, from both. Could Haney have been where he got to against George Kambosos three years ago?

That question is less important than whether Haney can protect his place in 2023.    

Let’s get into it. 

Stats and Stakes

Devin Haney 

Age: 24

Title: Lineal/Undisputed Lightweight Champion (2022-Present, 1 Defense

Previous Titles: None*

Height: 5’8  

Weight: 135 lbs.

Stance: Orthodox

Hails from: Las Vegas, Nevada

Record: 29-0, 15 KO

Record in Major Title Fights: 2-0 (7-0, 1 KO including interim and alternative WBC title fights)

Last Five Opponents: 149-10-1 (.934)

Notable Outcomes, Ring/TBRB Rated Foes: Jorge Linares UD12; Joseph Diaz UD12; George Kambosos UD12, UD12

Additional Current/Former Titlists Faced: Yuriorkis Gamboa UD12

*Held an alternative WBC belt at lightweight from 2019-22; defended four times

Vs.

Vasiliy Lomachenko

Age: 35

Title: None

Previous Titles: WBO featherweight (2014-16, 3 Defenses); WBO super featherweight (2016-18, 4 Defenses); WBC lightweight (2019*); WBA/Ring lightweight (2018-20, 3 Defenses); WBO lightweight (2018-Present, 2 Defenses)

Height: 5’7 

Weight: 135 lbs.

Stance: Southpaw

Hails from: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine

Record: 17-2, 11 KO (23-2, 11 KO including World Series of Boxing Contests)

Press Rankings: #1 (TBRB, Ring) #2 (ESPN) #5 (BoxRec)

Record in Major Title Fights: 13-2, 9 KO

Last Five Opponents: 100-6-1 (.939)

Notable Outcomes, TBRB and/or Ring Rated Foes: Orlando Salido L12; Roman Martinez KO5; Jason Sosa RTD9; Guillermo Rigondeaux RTD6; Jorge Linares TKO10; Jose Pedraza UD12; Anthony Crolla KO4; Luke Campbell UD12; Teofimo Lopez L12; Masayoshi Nakatani TKO9; Richard Commey UD12; Jamaine Ortiz UD12

*Lomachenko’s WBC title was converted to a franchise designation, lost to Teofimo Lopez

The Pick: Haney enters the fight on the best run of his career. He’s won four in a row against lightweights ranked top ten at lightweight by TBRB and Ring Magazine, including his title win over then-champion George Kambosos in their first of two fights. This is the biggest fight of the bunch. Kambosos may have beaten the man who beat Lomachenko, but the challenger still carries a certain mystique for a large part of the boxing fan base.     

There is no question that Lomachenko’s career road got tougher when he arrived at lightweight. Often dazzling at featherweight and Jr. lightweight, rarely losing a round after a defeat in his second pro fight to Orlando Salido, Lomachenko has been dropped at lightweight, he’s been beaten at lightweight, and in his last fight with Jamaine Ortiz he was given all he could handle. 

Haney is taller, longer, and likely quicker at this point. Lomachenko at his best is a crafty pressure fighter who creates angles to attack and uses his excellent footwork to turn opponents with increasing frustration. While the challenger has said this week that all Haney has is a jab, the assignment of getting past it to make the rest of his game work is a tall order.

The conventional thinking is Haney will get off to a good start and win several early rounds. That may play out but if Haney is safely rehydrated (his struggles to make 135 pounds aren’t a secret), and that jab minimizes damage during the first half, what will stop him from continuing to dominate in the second half? Haney’s willingness to clinch, reset, and go back to the stick should give Lomachenko fits.  

Lomachenko knows what the expectations for the fight are and it won’t be a surprise if he tries to start faster. Does he have the power to make Haney abandon his jab and engage more often? Can Lomachenko refuse the clinches and work the free hands that would allow? Those answers could determine how entertaining a fight this will be.

Ultimately, the thinking from this corner was that Haney had the size and style to offset Lomachenko’s dazzle when he was a mandatory three years ago. Haney is better now and with a chip on his shoulder. Lomachenko will compete but he’s not going to be able to get close enough to win enough rounds for a decision. The pick is Haney.        

Cliff’s Notes…    

This Saturday also has a fantastic fight at Jr. welterweight (DAZN, 2 PM EST). It’s a battle of undisputed champions as Chantelle Cameron (17-0, 8 KO) defends all the hardware in her class against lightweight queen Katie Taylor (22-0, 6 KO). Cameron has a chance to defeat the undisputed champions of the divisions above and below her in consecutive fights after a win over welterweight Jessica McCaskill in her last start. 

The issue for Cameron is she is going to Ireland to face Taylor in Taylor’s homecoming moment. This fight appear highly competitive but with knockouts unlikely its hard to imagine the close rounds not edging to the fighter with the feverish reactions egging them on. Taylor is the pick via decision in what should be an awesome spectacle. 

Rold Picks 2023: 19-4

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com