“I guarantee we’re going to kill that decision,” Klimas told reporters.
The other two scorecards, which favored Haney by one round, were more reflective of the fight’s tight margins and brisk pace.
During the break between Rounds 7 and 8, Lomachenko’s cornermen urged him to throw more jabs. He opened Round 8 aggressively, and walked into a sharp body shot from Haney. When Lomachenko finally landed his own jab, the capacity crowd chanted “Loma.” Before the bell, Haney had given some ground.
In the final round, Haney resumed his two-fisted body attack. When Lomachenko landed a straight left, Haney answered with two hooks. Just before the final bell, Haney landed a long left jab.
Lomachenko left the bout impressed with Haney’s skills.
To a point.
“If you’re talking about Linares, if you’re talking about Lopez — for me, they’re better than Haney,” Lomachenko said, referring to Jorge Linares and Teofimo Lopez, two of his past opponents.
Lomachenko’s in-ring future remains hazy. He proved he is still an elite performer in a talent-laden lightweight division, but has acknowledged that this bout was likely his final chance to become an undisputed champion.
For his part, Haney had hoped Saturday’s bout would erase doubts about his championship credentials, but the result only appears to have emboldened potential opponents.
“Devin’s not on my level, and I’m going to show it,” said Stevenson, the former 130-pound champion.
Haney, who has competed at 135 pounds since his adolescence, discussed a probationary move to the 140-pound super lightweight class. He does not plan to vacate his lightweight titles, though. Instead, he teased mega fights against Stevenson and Davis, who is nicknamed Tank.
“Me and Tank is a massive fight,” he said. “It’s going to happen, sooner than later.”
