Get your boxing tips for this Sunday’s Checkmate title bout between lightweight champion Devin Haney and former unified champ Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Boxing Tips – Devin Haney V Vasiliy Lomachenko
Career records:
- Haney – 29-0 (15 wins by KO/TKO)
- Lomachenko – 17-2 (11 wins by KO/TKO)
Last bouts:
- Haney def George Kambosos – Unanimous decision – Oct 16, 2022
- Lomachenko def Jamaine Ortiz – Unanimous decision – Oct 29, 2022
Final thoughts: Arguably the biggest lightweight boxing bout of 2023 – and a smoky to be regarded as ‘Fight of the Year’ – as Checkmate pits unbeaten, undisputed WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight champion Devin Haney against three-division world champ and former unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomanchenko.
The genesis of this long-awaited encounter goes back to 2020 when Haney made some controversial comments about then-unified champion Lomanchenko, who at the time dismissed the call-out. Now Haney has all the belts, Lomanchenko is eager to step into the ring with the super-gifted tyro.
‼️ Devin Haney vs Vasyl Lomachenko intense face-off ahead of Saturday night…
[🎥 @TRBoxing] pic.twitter.com/VWrEqz2xqK
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 17, 2023
California’s Haney has already crafted a 29-0 record with 15 knockouts at 24 years of age. He won the interim WBC belt in 2019 by defeating Zaur Abdullaev before disposing of challengers Alfredo Santiago, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz Jr.
Haney stamped himself as the division’s dominant fighter with a unanimous decision over Australian George Kambosos Jr in Melbourne in June last year to become undisputed champion.
In a Rod Laver Arena rematch in October, Haney comprehensively outboxed Kambosos again – earning scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109. It was Haney’s sixth consecutive victory by unanimous decision.
A two-time Olympic gold medallist – featherweight in Beijing and lightweight in London – Lomanchenko has carved out a superb pro career over the past decade. But his lost his WBA (Super), WBO and The Ring belts to Teofimo Lopez in a unanimous decision in October 2020.
The Ukrainian has patiently been waiting for another shot at title glory, beating Masayoshi Nakatani (Rd 9 TKO), Richard Commey (unanimous decision) and Jamaine Ortiz (unanimous decision) in the interim.
Lomanchenko dropped Commey in the seventh round of their late-2021 fight and won the decision easily, but he declined the opportunity to travel to Australia and fight Kambosos (who subsequently fought and lost to Haney), instead opting to stay in Ukraine to aid the country’s war effort.
It was a tough 12-round battle against Ortiz last October but an impressive return to the ring nonetheless. The 35-year-old counts 11 knockout wins in his 17-2 career record.
Haney boasts a height and reach advantage, as well as having a bigger, more imposing build than Lomanchenko. But he’s also a brilliant defensive fighter who has drawn comparisons with Floyd Mayweather.
Lomanchenko’s elite pound-for-pound reputation is built around his ability to change levels and create angles. There is a school of thought he’s no longer in his prime, though, and Haney will see off the challenger’s combinations and attempts to create an opening.
This is arguably the biggest test of Haney’s career, but his jab has proven impregnable and is set to be just that for Lomanchenko.
Tip: Method of Victory – Haney by Points or Decision @ $1.58
