It was a bittersweet moment for Eddie Hearn as he watched Devin Haney go on to become an undisputed champion at 135 pounds. After years of promoting the talented 24-year-old, Hearn was somewhat frustrated as he was forced out of the picture.

In a bid to aggregate every lightweight world title, Haney ditched DAZN, the media outlet which he was originally fighting under, to chase his undisputed dreams on ESPN against George Kambosos Jr.

Although he stepped into the unknown cautiously, Haney would go on to prove that his decision was a sagacious one, as he registered back-to-back victories over the Australian native. Now, with his undisputed crown dangling over his brow, Haney is ready to solidify himself as the man to beat.

Currently, the Las Vegas, native is attempting to hammer out a deal that would see him take on former lightweight kingpin, Vasiliy Lomachenko. At one point, Hearn, having watched the slick-hitting Ukrainian dissect countless foes over the years, believed that the former two-time Olympic gold medalist was essentially unbeatable. Fast forward to today, however, and Hearn is now singing a different tune as he believes that Haney will be too much on the night of their fight.

“He’ll beat Lomachenko handily,” said Hearn during an interview with BoxingScene.com.  

Lomachenko, after lending a helping hand to his native land of Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion, made his return to the ring against Jamaine Ortiz on October 29th, 2022.

While he became the first man to sully Ortiz’s record, Lomachenko’s victory was marred with ostensible ring rust. The Ukrainian's perceived slowdown, coupled with the physical gifts of Haney, has convinced Hearn that at this stage, the miles on Lomachenko’s odometer leaves him at a decided disadvantage against his much younger adversary.

“He’s nowhere near the fighter he was but I think Devin is just too big and too long for him.”