On 19 August 2019, Lomachenko defeated Luke Campbell and won the vacant WBC title, despite holding and defending belts with other sanctioning bodies. Just two weeks after this, Devin Haney defeated Zaur Abdullaev and won the WBC interim title, thus becoming the WBC mandatory challenger. Lomachenko opted to be named the WBC "franchise champion" and Haney was elevated from interim to world champion. This prompted Haney to accuse Lomachenko of "ducking" him.[1]
On 27 March 2022, Haney struck a deal with unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr to fight for the undisputed championship. Lomachenko declined to fight Kambosos, opting to stay and fight for his country after Russia invaded Ukraine. Haney would defeat Kambosos to become the first undisputed lightweight champion since Pernell Whitaker. He would retain his titles by defeating Kambosos in a rematch that took place on 16 October 2022.[2]
Discussions for the fight with Lomachenko began immediately after the Kambosos fight. Haney, a practicing Muslim, indicated that he preferred the fight to take place before March, so as to not conflict with Ramadan. He also accused his promoter Top Rank of favoritism towards Lomachenko, claiming that Top Rank and Lomachenko's management wanted the fight pushed to May to force him to stay weight-drained for longer.[3] Eventually, a deal was struck for a fight at the MGM Grand on May 20.
The fight
With Lomachenko coming in as the underdog for the first time in his career, much of the bout turned out to be closely contested, with both men finding success, Lomachenko scoring with clean combinations to the head, while Haney countered consistently with solid body shots. Late in the fight, Lomachenko became increasingly dominant, finding particular success in the 10th and 11th rounds. However, Haney rallied to win the final round on all three judges' scorecards.[4][5][6][7]
Fans and professionals scored the fight as 115-113 in favour of Lomochenko
The decision however, was greatly disputed, as many onlookers felt Lomachenko had done enough to win, including fellow boxers Shakur Stevenson and Jorge Linares, who had previously predicted a Haney victory.[10][5][11][12][13] Judge Dave Moretti's scorecard, giving round 10 to Haney despite Lomachenko dominating that round, was heavily criticised.[4][14] Others argued that as the fight had been close, a narrow result for Haney was not unreasonable.[7]CompuBox punch stats suggested Haney had landed 110 of 405 punches thrown (27%), while Lomachenko landed 124 of 564 (22%), with both boxers outlanding the other in five rounds each, the other two rounds being even.[6] Lomachenko believed he had won and his team subsequently stated they would file an appeal regarding the result. Haney on his part praised Lomachenko, calling him his toughest opponent yet.[10][5]
Regardless of the result, the fight and the performances of both men were widely praised. It was described by multiple accounts as "thrilling", with Lomachenko's display against a substantially younger and larger opponent being highly lauded.[5][7]
After the event, Haney was fined $25,000 for violently shoving Lomachenko during the weigh-in faceoffs.[15][16]
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