Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | May 20, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Haney wins via 12-round unanimous decision (116–112, 115–113, 115–113) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko, billed as Checkmate, was a professional boxing match contested on 20 May 2023, for the undisputed lightweight championship. The bout took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight ended in a somewhat controversial unanimous decision win for Haney.
Background
[edit]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
[edit]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 [1]
Haney won the fight by unanimous decision.[8]
Official scorecards
[edit]| Judge | Fighter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Cheatham | Haney | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 115 |
| Lomachenko | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 113 | |
| Dave Moretti | Haney | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 116 |
| Lomachenko | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 112 | |
| David Sutherland | Haney | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 115 |
| Lomachenko | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 113 |
Aftermath
[edit]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]
Fight card
[edit]Confirmed bouts:[17]
| Main card (PPV) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Devin Haney (c) | def. | Vasiliy Lomachenko | UD | 12/12 | [a] | |
| Super featherweight | Oscar Valdez | def. | Adam Lopez | UD | 10/10 | ||
| Lightweight | Raymond Muratalla | def. | Jeremiah Nakathila | TKO | 2/10 | 2:48 | [b] |
| Undercard | |||||||
| Super flyweight | Junto Nakatani | def. | Andrew Moloney | KO | 12/12 | 2:42 | [c] |
| Middleweight | Nico Ali Walsh | vs. | Danny Rosenberger | NC | 8/8 | [d] | |
| Super bantamweight | Floyd Diaz | def. | Luis Fernando Saavedra | UD | 8/8 | ||
| Lightweight | Abdullah Mason | def. | Desmond Lyons | TKO | 6/6 | 0:32 | |
| Middleweight | Amari Jones | def. | Pachino Hill | TKO | 6/6 | 1:16 | |
| Lightweight | Emiliano Vargas | def. | Rafael Jasso | KO | 2/4 | 1:41 | |
- ^ For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles
- ^ For vacant NABF and WBO Global lightweight title
- ^ For vacant WBO super flyweight title
- ^ Originally a split decision draw; overturned due to Rosenberger testing positive for illegal substance
Broadcasting
[edit]| Country/Region | Broadcasters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Cable TV | PPV | Stream | |
| United States (host) | ESPN+ | |||
| Ukraine | TBA | |||
| Asia (inc. Indian subcontinent exc. Japan) | Fight Sports | Fight Sports Max | ||
| Europe | ||||
| MENA | ||||
| Brazil | SporTV | Globoplay | ||
| Canada | TSN+ (undercard only) | |||
| YouTube | ||||
| Germany | ||||
| Denmark | FITE | |||
| Finland | ||||
| Norway | ||||
| Sweden | ||||
| France | RMC Sport | RMC BFM Play | ||
| Ireland | Sky Sports | Sky Go | ||
| United Kingdom | ||||
| Japan | Wowow | Wowow on Demand | ||
| Latin America (exc. Brazil) | ESPN | Star+ | ||
| Mexico | Azteca 7 | TV Azteca Deportes | ||
| Panama | RPC | Medcom Go | ||
| Poland | TVP Sport | TVP Go | ||
| Sub-saharan Africa | ESPN | ESPN Player | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "DEVIN HANEY BLASTS VASYL LOMACHENKO ... 'Stop Ducking Me!!!'". TMZ.
- ^ Coppinger, Mike (16 Oct 2022). "Devin Haney again defeats George Kambosos by unanimous decision". ESPN. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ Nam, Sean. "Haney, Concerned With Ramadan, At Odds With Top Rank Over Lomachenko Fight Date". BoxingScene.
- ^ a b Khatwani, Shivam (2023-05-21). "Who is Dave Moretti? Boxing judge goes viral for absurd scoring in Devin Haney fight". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b c d "Haney edges Lomachenko to remain undisputed". ESPN.com. 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b CompuBox (2023-05-21). "Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko: CompuBox Punch Stats". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b c "Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko results, takeaways: Fight was no robbery; 'Loma' puts out best performance". CBSSports.com. 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Haney beats Lomachenko to retain world titles". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
- ^ https://www.badlefthook.com/2023/5/21/23731626/haney-vs-lomachenko-official-scorecard-how-judges-scored-fight-dave-moretti-boxing-news-2023
- ^ a b "'The biggest robbery': Lomachenko loses controversial decision to Haney". The Guardian. 2023-05-21. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ TV, Ring (2023-05-22). "Who do you think won Haney-Lomachenko?". The Ring. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Themistode, Hans (2022-11-01). "Shakur Stevenson Gives Lomachenko No Chance Against Devin Haney: 'Dev Smokes Him'". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ April 2023, Danny Gilfillan on 26th (2023-04-26). "Haney-Lomachenko Prediction From The Only Man To Fight Both". boxing-social.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Staff, BoxingScene (2023-05-21). "Teddy Atlas Wants Judge Moretti To Appear Before NSAC To Explain Haney-Loma Scoring". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Jesse Holland (May 24, 2023). "Devin Haney goes nuts on robbery'sore loser' Lomachenko after commission docks him $400k for violent pre-fight push". mmamania.com.
- ^ Damon Martin (June 20, 2023). "Devin Haney fined $25,000 for shoving Vasyl Lomachenko at weigh-ins". mmafighting.com.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".