By: Sean Crose
More good news. Devin Haney is now officially set to defend his undisputed lightweight title against Vasyl Lomachenko on May 20th in Las Vegas. The match will be the main event of a Top Rank Pay Per View Card. “This is a fight that I’ve always wanted,” Haney told FightHype. “I was calling Loma when he did look unbeatable…I was calling him out then.” Haney added that his willingness to fight former titlist and pound for pound fighter Lomachenko shows how willing he is to be competitive. “At this point in my career I don’t have to fight him and I’m choosing to fight him,” he added. “What I say is real.”
Haney also made it clear he’s willing to sacrifice for the bigger matchups. “Everybody knows its hard for me to make the weight,” he said. “It’s not the easiest thing for me to make the weight. But I’m sacrificing to fight somebody that I’ve been wanting to fight for a long time…I’m choosing to stay at the weight class and fight him.” As far as the future, Haney indicated that he’s yet to decide what comes after Loma. He can’t keep draining himself of weight forever, after all.
“It’s definitely up in the air,” he said of his post-Loma career. “I haven’t made my decision yet.” He’s right not to jump the gun since his fight with Loma is still two months away. Plus, Haney feels like he’s only improving as time goes on. “Every camp I feel stronger and stronger,” he said. “My body’s maturing. I’m getting bigger. I’m getting stronger. I’m getting older.” As far as Haney is concerned, that’s all bad news for Lomachenko.
“Every camp is going to be better and better,” he claimed. “That’s why I said a long time ago Loma needs to fight me now because it’s only going to get worse (for him).” There’s no doubt Haney is taking on a real challenge in Lomachenko. The Ukrainian may not be in his prime, but he may not exactly be over the hill, either. Yet Haney indicated there’s more to boxing for him than just making a good living – which he surely does. “Money don’t make me,” he said. “This is truly what I love to do…I was doing it for free at a young age.” Haney claims that, in the end, there’s a higher purpose to what he does than just earning paydays.
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “It’s about the legacy with me.”