Via Craig Daly: Devin Haney will have a hard time coming up with a 135 lb limit for his undisputed lightweight title defense against Vasyl Lomachenko if the competition is delayed until May.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) has Ramadan from March 22 to April 21, and chances are it’ll be hard for him to gain weight after that because he’ll want to eat well.
Devin says he prefers the match against Lomachenko before Ramadan, meaning he wants the match to be in February or early to mid-March. That worked for Haney but not for the soon-to-be 35-year-old Loma.
Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) needed time to remove the remaining ring from his system due to being laid off for almost a year while serving in the armed forces in Ukraine because of the ongoing war.
Although Loma returned to the ring last October against Jamaine Ortiz, he looked tired and in poor shape compared to his previous match against Richard Commey in December 2021. .
This will most likely be Haney’s last fight in the lightweight division, which is unfortunate as there are a lot of question marks over his viability in the lightweight division when forced to increase the weight class.
Haney’s lack of strength and punch resistance isn’t where he needs to be for him to land the solid hits he’ll regularly be hit by 140-pounders.
Moreover, Haney does not possess the hand speed or reflexes like Mayweather to avoid being hit by the opponent. Therefore, when Haney turns 140, his chances of continued career success will depend on the skillful matchmaking of his promoters to keep him away from talented boxers and only match him. with those who are weak and have little strength.
“Haney and Lomachenko have been talking with Top Rank for weeks but have yet to reach an agreement. Haney took up an issue on Twitter, saying he wanted to fight before Ramadan because he would have to fast,” Mike Coppinger told. GAME about undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
“Ramadan runs from March 22 to April 21, could push the war to May if it takes place after the execution time. It could get in the way of Haney maintaining his weight for much longer as he grows into his strength and works towards his goal of gaining 140 pounds by the end of the year.
Lomachenko will turn 35 on February 17, and he is slowing down like the speed of his arms and legs. It wasn’t just the rusty ring that made Lomachenko look sluggish in his recent game against his former teammate. Jamaine Ortiz on October 29.
That match showed that Lomachenko had lost both arm and leg speed, and he’s not going to regain it, no matter how much time he spends in training camp. It’s an age-related problem that Lomachenko currently has.
If Loma loses this fight, he needs to consider dropping the weight class to 130 or 126 because if he can’t beat Haney, he will have a lot of problems in matches with top lightweight athletes like Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Frank Martin.
“I think it was a great fight. It all depends on how many rust rings Loma gets rid of and how well Devin can put the weight back on,” super featherweight athlete Albert Bell told. fightwhen asked about his thoughts on the Devin Haney vs Vasyl Lomachenko match.
“It was a huge battle with contrasting styles. You’ve got a fighter-like technique that does many things [Lomachenko]and you have the traditional classical boxer in Devin.
“Devin is a much bigger man, he’s longer and he’s on top right now. He is doing well. It was the perfect moment for Devin to finish, and if Lomachenko wants his dream of becoming an undisputed champion, he has to try to seize the opportunity, but Devin looks great right now,” Bell said.
