Devin Haney defeated Vasyl Lomachenko in a fight with a thrilling development and a controversial result

Devin Haney retained his undisputed world lightweight title by defeating former Ukrainian champion Vasiliy Lomachenko by points in Las Vegas, in the early hours of this Sunday. Although he held the locality, the American could not avoid the crowd boothat he considered the unanimous decision of the juries in favor of the absolute monarch to be unjust.

It was, in short, a tough 12-round battle, many of them very close. According to the judges, Haney won 116-112, 115-113, 115-113, even though the controversy was set up when the verdict was revealed because Lomachenko had a fantastic close to the contest, which at least should have brought him much closer to his rival on the cards.

The undefeated 24-year-old Haney improved to 30-0 with 15 knockouts and retained his World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization belts.

The Ukrainian, 11 years his senior and returned to the ring in October last year after enlisting in a Ukrainian territorial defense unit following Russia’s invasion of the country, scored a record third defeat also made 17 victories, 11 of which before the limit.

Haney seemed to gain the upper hand in the middle rounds of the fight, rocking the Odessa native with a left hook in round seven and continuing to find his target with a sharp counterattack.

Lomachenko, meanwhile, fed the crowd with an outstanding production in the last three roundsand invited to think of a different outcome than what ultimately occurred in the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Public disapproval of the result was such that the statements could hardly be heard provided from the ring by the winner of the contest, who in June 2022 became the first undisputed lightweight world champion since Pernell Whitaker in 1990, with a lopsided decision over George Kambosos in Melbourne.

“Loma is a hall of fame. This is the toughest fight I’ve ever been in,” Haney managed. And he added, “This is a great way to close my journey at 135 pounds. I’ve been in the division for a long time and making weight has always been my biggest rival.”

For his part, Lomachenko acknowledged that he received the support of the public and publicly thanked him from the ring, after doing the same with his family and work team.

On the specific outcome, he tried to avoid making any noise-making statements. However, she made a devastating suggestion: “I don’t want to talk about it. All the people saw what happened today”.

“I proved that I was in my best shape and could fight again,” added the Ukrainian boxer, who later dodged a new question about the development of the match.

At Haney’s level, meanwhile, he’s been outspoken. “I thought it was better. He’s a tough fighter now, but not one of the best pound-for-pound fighters,” Lomachenko fired.

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