Devin Haney has vowed to send Vasyl Lomachenko into retirement from boxing with a win in their undisputed title fight.
Undisputed lightweight champion Haney retained his belts last time in a rematch with George Kambosos Jr, and will now face another formidable test in the shape of ex-world champion Lomachenko. The Ukrainian star is considered one of the leading fighters in the division and has gone through a rebuild after losing in his huge showdown with Teofimo Lopez back in 2020.
A win for Haney will continue his remarkable run and could see him thrust into huge potential challenges from fellow countryman Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson. And he believes that he is capable of first outclassing Lomachenko while relishing his status as favourite to pick up the win.
“I want to beat him bad. I want to send him into retirement,” Haney said during an episode of Top Rank Blood Sweat & Tears as he previewed their undisputed meeting this weekend. “Lomachenko has never been an underdog, this is the first time. This time he’s fighting a bigger guy, a strong guy, faster guy, younger guy.
“All odds are stacked against him and on May 20 I will show the world why. Whatever he brings on fight night it won’t be enough, I’m going to make him look average, I’m going to make him look ordinary. I’m gonna embarrass him and he won’t be the same.”
Lomachenko is now 35 but has not got too many miles on the clock given he has only fought 19 times as a professional with two defeats including against Orlando Salido. However, he could look to retire if he does lose given he could find himself frozen out of the title picture for a long time, with a queue of fresh-faced challengers to the throne.
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It is likely that the Ukrainian could even retire if he wins the belts given he will have completed his objective in the division of becoming a four-belt champion. Despite going into the contest as underdog, Lomachenko has shown he has the skills capable of posing a threat to Haney who has yet to lose a fight in his career.
However boxing promoter Eddie Hearn does not see Haney's undefeated record and expects his former fighter to continue his streak on Saturday night. “Yes I do [think he beats Lomachenko]," he told Boxing News. "I think he wins nearly every round. I see Lomachenko has a faded fighter, I’ve always believed that Devin could beat him. We were trying to get that fight three years ago, when ‘Loma’ was more in his prime, so I believe that he wins that comfortably.”
“Lomachenko will be looking to reclaim the belts that he lost to Teofimo Lopez in 2020, in what was his second defeat in the professional ranks, in addition to the WBC and IBF titles. However, his fights since his defeat, against Masayoshi Nakatanki, Richard Commey and Jamaine Ortiz have hardly blown fans away.”
