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By Sam Volz: Devin Haney has been surprisingly quiet about Vasyl Lomachenko after defeating George Kambosos Jr last Saturday night in their fight in Melbourne, Australia.
He made it clear to many of Haney’s fans that he didn’t want to get into a fight with Lomachenko because of the threat he posed to him and his career.
When interviewed afterward, Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) did not mention Lomachenko by name, nor did he say anything about him in the post-fight press conference.
This suggests to some that Haney is not interested in defending against the former three-division world champion. If not, then it will be interesting to see who Haney fights instead.
He cannot dismiss an opponent at the level of Kambosos without declaring that he only intends to face weak opposition. Boxing fans want to see Haney face top fighters like Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, and Shakur Stevenson.
“We take all comers. Whoever it is, we want to fight the best fighters in the world,” said Haney. I believe I’m the best fighter in the world. Whoever’s next, bring it on!”
At the post-fight press conference, Haney said he would speak with his team and his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, to decide who to fight next. Arum has already been very vocal about wanting Haney to defend Lomachenko next.
The problem is, Haney hasn’t fought the best fighters in the world in his seven-year career. The best opposition that Haney fought were Kambosos, Jorge Linares, and Joseph Diaz. These weren’t great fighters, though, and neither were the other 26 men Haney fought.
It would be bad for Haney to move Lomachenko to face a smaller fighter or give up his four titles to move to 140. Boxing fans will only give Haney a pass if he fights Tank Davis or Shakur Stevenson.
The fight with Ryan Garcia was not good because Lomachenko is better than him in the world, and it is already thought that he will drop Haney from his belt if they fight.
You could argue that Lomachenko’s next opponent Jaime Ortiz more than Haney has fought during his career.
Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs) is coming off a 10 round unanimous decision win over former WBO Super featherweight champion Jamel Herring. Ortiz is arguably going to do a better job of beating Kambosos last weekend than Haney did because he is stronger.
Lomachenko fights ‘The Technician’ Ortiz this month on October 29th on ESPN at Madison Square Garden in New York.
This is Lomachenko’s first fight since defeating Richard Commey in December last year. He was busy in Ukraine during the war and now he continues his work.
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