Devin Haney Doesn’t Think Lomachenko Fight Happens
In the sport of boxing, the most ideal scenario would see the best fighters competing against the best at all times. Obviously, this is not always the case. At times, injuries, scheduling conflicts, politics and flat out ducking often muddy up the landscape. Despite all these potential obstacles, you still have certain boxers, such as WBC world lightweight champion in recess Devin “The Dream” Haney (24-0, 15 KO’s), chasing all the killers in the division.
Since revealing that his shoulder had fully healed from his surgery, and subsequent rehab, Haney has begun vigorously calling out Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KO’s), Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (20-0, 17 KO’s) and Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (35-2-1, 24 KO’s). Although clearly ready to jump back in the deep end of the competition pool, the fight that the Dream wants more than all the rest is likely the one that he won’t get.
SHOT EARNED NOT GIFTED
Outside of getting his career back on track as quickly as possible Devin Haney would love to secure a showdown with the highly-praised unified world lightweight champion Vasiliy “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KO’s). Unfortunately, Haney harbors zero hope that it will actually come to pass. Sadly, his skepticism is not unwarranted.
Oddly enough, whenever the young promoter called for the Loma fight in the public eye, he was largely branded as some sort of unworthy braggart who was not deserving of the opportunity.
This sentiment shared by a notable contingent of fans, and a few in the media, was odd because Haney had worked himself into a legitimate position to face Lomachenko. Instead of begging for some pipe dream fight, the Dream had diligently fought his way to becoming Hi-Tech’s mandatory challenger. Before getting that fight however, Lomachenko got a bit slippery.
PLAYING NO WAITING GAMES HERE
Whether Hi-Tech was flat out ducking Haney or just coincidently looking for a change, Team Loma did efficiently maneuver away from a fight with Devin Haney. They accomplished this by petitioning for, and receiving, ‘Franchise Champion’ status by the WBC.
With the designation, Lomachenko is exempt from facing any mandatory challengers. Since becoming the ‘Franchise Champion’ Team Loma has shown absolutely no practical interest in facing Haney. So, whether or not Lomachenko was trying to avoid him or not is no longer a concern for Devin Haney. As he told to Fight Hype he can’t allow his career stagnate waiting around for an unwilling dance partner.
“They [Teofimo Lopez and Lomachenko] have no interest in fighting me, not even one bit. Loma said some stuff the other day on InstaGram, he said some stuff like am I serious and let’s make this fight happen. But in reality Bob Arum will not let his fighters fight me.”
“…we obviously saw that you can’t force Lomachenko to do anything because I was the mandatory and he somehow got out of it. So we can’t force Lomachenko to do anything, we will really have to see.”
By: Bakari Simpson
