Over the weekend, we were treated to an instant classic — one of the most technically fought wars in recent years! We saw Vasyl Lomachenko face off against Devin Haney for the IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight diadems.
Haney came out on top via a very close unanimous-decision win which was hotly contested by Loma’s camp. Two judges had it 115-113, while one had it a wide 116-112.
I thought I had Loma winning by a point, but I have no qualms about the decision as there were too many close rounds that could reasonably have been scored either way.
LOMA. Fighting a good two weight divisions from his natural weight, Loma was undeterred and comfortably brought the fight to his younger, bigger opponent.
He was his usual technical self, doing his Matrix-like feints and fakes, and landing crafty counters.
When Haney started targeting his body which affected his output, he came back strong in the championship rounds, showing off his tremendous conditioning and recuperative powers even at age 35.
HANEY. He came into this fight the bigger, stronger fighter and was able to establish his strength advantage early in the fight. He landed some eye-catching power shots set up by his left jab.
He also made mid-fight adjustments by targeting Loma to the body in the middle rounds which proved successful. This 24-year-old really has a bright future ahead of him and he learned so much from fighting a legend like Loma.
NO ROBBERY. After the verdict was announced, Loma was shown shedding tears of frustration in the locker room. My heart goes out to this living legend who is a three-division world champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
This was a brilliant, gutsy effort against one of the best young fighters in the world. That he fell short was a disappointment but he truly should be proud of his performance.
The verdict to me was given to the wrong man. But I would not go as far to label this as a robbery. This was not on the level of a Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn.
Both men had their moments in this fight. The ebbs and flows were exhilarating to watch. A rematch should be in the works but unfortunately, post-fight Haney indicated he might move up in weight.
VERBATIM. “It all depends on where you’re at, what angle, who you’re rooting for, who you’re influenced by. That all depends on everything. I just felt it was very biased going into this fight because both fighters are great, and I came out with the conclusion that Lomachenko won.” -- Oscar de la Hoya
LAST ROUND. It’s on my lovely niece who recently turned 18, Yanna Isabeli Chanco-Quijano. Happy birthday and cheers, Yan!