Via Sam Volz: According to Paulie Malignaggi, Devin Haney will soon vacate his undisputed lightweight title to avoid losing to Vasyl Lomachenko.
The fact that Haney, 23, did not mention Lomachenko in his post-match interview or in his press conference suggests that he will not be fighting Loma. That is clear. Haney will drop the belt and move to 140 instead of being defeated by Lomachenko.
Devin’s first two fights on a three-fight deal with the Top Rated were easy hits against George Kambosos Jr, a heavily handicapped boxer who was lucky to fight an injured and sick Teofimo Lopez. .
However, now that Top Rank wants Haney to fight an elite guy in Lomachenko, he will quickly vacate his four titles and run away from the 135-lb division.
From a sporting perspective, it’s pathetic for Haney to give up his title, but he will save his career by doing so because Lomachenko is a boxer on a different level than he is.
Even at 34, Loma is in another galaxy in the universe with Haney, and he clearly knows it.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) is in the third game of his three-fight deal with Top Rated, and Bob Arum wants him to defend against WBC No. 1 contender Vasyl Lomachenko, because that would transfer the title to Loma to set up an undisputed bigger game against Shakur Stevenson.
Malignaggi says that Haney doesn’t want to fight Lomachenko because he knows he will lose. Haney would rather vacate her lightweight titles and rise to 140 as an undefeated former four-belt champion than a boxer who lost to Lomachenko.
“I said from the beginning that Haney wouldn’t want to fight Lomachenko. He will defeat the Kambosos because those are easy battles. afterward he will vacate those titles and move up to 140 pounds,” Paulie Malignaggi told Paulie TVpredicted that Devin Haney would vacate his undisputed lightweight championship to avoid losing to Vasyl Lomachenko.
“If you [Haney] At 135th, the plan for Top Rank would be for Haney and Lomachenko to fight and Lomachenko to take the undisputed title from Haney and keep it to defend until Shakur Stevenson is ready to move in and become the top spot. star of the next generation as he would take down the dying star Lomachenko at the time.
“It must have been a pay-per-view blockbuster. That’s how Top Rated gets rid of one superstar and creates the next, and that’s what happens. I feel that Haney will avoid Lomachenko; I said that from the very beginning.
“Look what happened last week. Bob Arum has declared that the winner of the Haney fight [against Kambosos] and Lomachenko fighting will fight each other. That’s what will happen when Lomachenko wins on October 29 [against Jamaine Ortiz].
“So what happened? I predicted from the beginning Haney wouldn’t fight Lomachenko. I was predicting that he would vacate his titles because he’d better drop those and remain unbeaten and move on as an undisputed champion at lightweight and move to 140 lbs instead lost all belts and moved up to 140 lbs with a loss in his record.
“No matter what, he will duck Lomachenko like I said because it is never convenient to play against Vasyl Lomachenko. Lomachenko fought them all and continues to fight the top guys and look for the toughest battles. He doesn’t pick and choose anyone.
“What if Haney refuses to fight Lomachenko? I want to see Haney vs Teofimo Lopez. This is his last fight in the Top Rated contract. Now you have to do a 140 lb fight, and the Top Rank will probably fight one of the 140 lb guys, obviously.
“If Haney re-signs and renews, the Top Rated will probably give him a more inconclusive fight.
“If Haney doesn’t want to re-sign with Top Rank, and this is the last game on his contract, I think Top Rank will try to let him beat him in the last match against them because that’s the way. promoters usually do. It’s a scum business.
“If you don’t stay with them, they will try and beat you up. I might choose [Teofimo] López [to beat Haney]. The way Lopez is back and looks like his old self, I’m going to pick Lopez to beat Haney. Honestly, it’s a fight I’d love to see. It was a good fight.
“I don’t think Lomachenko and Haney are a close fight. I think Lomachenko dominates Haney. There are too many variables. Lomachenko has in his arsenal.
“Yes, Haney is bigger, but there are a lot of variations where Lomachenko attacks you. I just haven’t seen enough variations and variations in Haney’s style to deal with shifting angles and combinations and things like that.
“I believe Haney knows that too, that’s why I don’t believe he will actually fight Lomachenko. What happens to the lightweight titles if Haney levels up and they are left vacant? I think Lomachenko can win one or two of them.
“I think Shakur Stevenson wins one or two of those because he’s lightweight right now, and I think in the end we’ll still get the pay-per-view for the undisputed lightweight title because Lomachenko and Stevenson, where both would become champions.
“I think that is where Shakur will replace Lomachenko and become the new superstar for the new generation with a pay-per-view win over Lomachenko.
“Top ranking will do it at the right time when Lomachenko is just old enough to die, and Shakur is entering his prime. He has been very good. You want to do that fight when Shakur is entering his prime, which I think is very close.
“Haney has all the titles. Later on, Top Rank had a three-way deal with Haney. Haney was in a situation where he didn’t need to sign a long-term contract because he was so good at boxing, and for that reason, he never needed to sign a long-term contract with anyone.
“It allows him to change and maneuver. It’s a big advantage that you never have to link yourself to anyone because he entered a Chamber deal by word of mouth, and he can give up the Chamber and go to Ranked highest for a three-game deal in exchange for a lightweight title hit against the Kambosos.
“He would never have been allowed to do that if he had been forced to sign a long-term contract with Matchroom. Having the good life, that helped him. That makes a huge difference in terms of business when you not only have the savvy business mind but also the financial ability to make those savvy business moves.
“He was able to give up Matchroom and sign a three-player deal with Top Rated, which would be two matches. Defeat Kambosos and win the rematch against Kambosos.
“The third fight is always about whether Top Rank holds the belt because Top Rank isn’t about letting you win the belt before theirs and then letting you walk away with their belts. So the third fight is always against Lomachenko,‘ said Malignaggi.
