In the weigh-in prior to their much-hyped lightweight title fight, undisputed champion Devin Haney shoved challenger Vasiliy Lomanchenko.
The tweet seems to be doing some heavy lifting by saying Haney shoved Lomanchenko across the stage or even labeling the shove as chaos – that’s to be expected from Top Rank as the fight promoter. Yet it was certainly a charged moment for the defending champion. Earlier in the week, the two were engaged in a verbal dispute, with Haney labeling Lomamchencko a dirty fighter.
While you can debate if there’s truly bad blood between the two fighters, there is no question that a good main event will be on hand. Until a stunning upset loss to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020, “Loma” was one of the pound-for-pound kings of the sport. He is the fastest boxer to become a world champion in three different weight classes, winning flyweight, junior lightweight and lightweight titles in twelve fights.
After being denied a rematch with Lopez, Lomanchenko won his next two bouts before pausing his in-ring career to serve his native Ukraine in the country’s war against Russia. He won his return bout last October, setting up a long-awaited fight for the unified title that eluded him after his loss to Lopez.
The undefeated Haney, who held the WBC lightweight title, collected the WBA, WBO and IBF belts from Australian fighter George Kambosos Jr. in a dominant showing in Melbourne last June. (Kambosos upset Lopez for the titles originally held by Lomanchenko.) Haney honored Kambosos’ rematch clause and soundly defeated the challenger on his home turf again in October.
The Oakland native has tried upping the ante a few times in his pursuit of Lomanchenko over the years, even wading into controversial territory with comments akin to Bernard Hopkins’ infamous trash talk with Joe Calzaghe in 2008.
