By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Devin Haney just surpassed his biggest challenge so far after earning a unanimous decision victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko to keep his WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, and Ring Magazine boxing belts last May 21, 2023, held in Las Vegas.
Fight fans got what they wanted. An explosive, close, and thrilling championship fight between the young champion and the former king who wanted his throne back.
The American champion kicked off the highly-anticipated showdown by targeting the body of Lomachenko while also keeping his jabs busy to prevent the Ukrainian star from cutting through the distance.
However, in just a matter of seconds, Lomachenko suddenly stepped on the gas pedal and didn’t start his rounds slow just like his previous fights, sending in a barrage of punches that caught Haney off guard heading into the second round.
Both fighters then exchanged scores as Haney stuck to his game plan of throwing most of his offense to the mid-section while Lomachenko pressured the American and was landing his double left jabs at will.
Haney had his moment during the seventh round when he landed a flurry of punches and was looking to establish his pace to negate Lomachenko’s pressure.
However, when the 10th round started, Lomachenko began to dominate the fight and hurt Haney with several hooks to the head that forced him to clinch and backpedal to the ropes.
It was still all Lomachenko in the next round as he continued his surge and already unlocked Haney’s punching pattern.
The last round saw the crowd go up to their feet as two of the most talented lightweights in the sport traded blows, with Haney going back to his efficient jabs while Lomachenko still applying hounding pressure to the American.
After 12 rounds of high-octane action for the undisputed lightweight belts, it was Haney who came out on top and earned the nods of all the three judges, 116-112, while two scored it 115-113.
Several fans and analysts complained that it wasn’t the result they expected, revealing that they picked Lomachenko to win, 115-113, when he dominated the last three rounds.
“I don’t want to talk about this. All the people saw what happened today. Look, I think I showed I’m in good shape. See you next time. I can’t talk about this right now. It’s just, it’s not a comfortable moment for me,” said Lomachenko after the fight.
