Tricky Triangle Between Devin Haney, Richard Commey and Vasiliy Lomachenko
Sadly for WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (26-0, 15 KO’s) it’s been remarkably difficult to secure meaningful fights. Despite holding a title and regularly calling out top names, he has not obtained the type of prizefights he wants. Haney has even established himself as a network and promotional free-agent to make negotiations easy with anyone regardless of their affiliation.
At the moment the best names on his ledger are an older Jorge Linares and a very faded Yuriorkis Gamboa. Now, it looks like the champ may be turning his sights toward former IBF champion Richard “RC” Commey (30-3, 27 KO’s). Well that is if Commey is not going to face Vasiliy “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KO’s) first.
Very recently there have been industry rumblings that Commey will fight Lomachenko on December 11. On the one hand there have been no formal announcements but Loma did cryptically make a “December 11” post on social media. The would-be dust-up puzzled Haney because Commey had recently shown interest in fighting him. As a result the Dream called the former IBF champion out for this seemingly contradictory behavior.
Yet in another twist, Commey admitted that he knew nothing about an upcoming showdown with Hi-Tech.
WHY NOT CHOSE THE CHAMP?
Currently ranked #6 (WBO), #6 (WBC) and #12 (IBF), it makes sense for Commey to fight Haney or Lomachenko. He is only one bout removed from losing his IBF title to Teofimo Lopez. A win over either will launch him right back into the middle of the premiere lightweight talks.
Naturally, a win over Haney would probably be more desirable due to his WBC title. In all actuality, the same goes for Lomachenko who is currently ranked #1 (WBO), #1 (WBC), #2 (WBA) and #5 (IBF). This begs the question, “if this is true, why would team Lomachenko target a bout with Commey rather than Devin Haney?”
Haney has gotten a lot of flak because he did not win his WBC title in the ring. Yet, it is not his fault that Hi-Tech decided to relinquish the WBC title when The Dream was his mandatory challenger. Lomachenko dropped his belt in order to become the ridiculous WBC “Franchise” titlist. Once he was formally established as the WBC “Franchise” titlist, the legitimate WBC lightweight title was awarded to Devin Haney. Due to this would-be sidestep many have accused Hi-Tech of running from Haney. If he is now pursuing Commey, this will only serve to reinforce those beliefs.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this triangle. As stated before, any one of these boxers paired against the other two would make for a great night of action. Being honest though, if given a choice, the most ideal and meaningful matchup here is Haney vs Lomachenko. Yet, as always, we will just have to wait and see how the politics of the day play out!
By: Bakari Simpson
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