By: Sean Crose
The undisputed lightweight championship was at stake Saturday night when defending champion Devin Haney faced former world champion Vasyl Lomachenko in a pay-per-view main event scheduled by ESPN. 12 laps at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Everyone is at risk. Younger Haney, 29-0, wants to establish himself as one of the best fighters in the contemporary fighting game while older Lomachenko, 17-2, seeks to re-establish himself as a once-in-a-lifetime talent .
Loma had a strong first match – but it was close. Both men threw and landed some effective shots. The second, like the first, is intense and fast-paced. Haney landed early, Loma landed well later. The third round is the same as the previous two. However, Loma has had better moments – it’s not like Haney doesn’t have moments of her own. The two men went down when they drew at the end of the fourth round – although Haney took a better chance in the chapter.
Haney’s body work tells the fifth story. Loma did well in season six, but Haney did better. The man’s body work paid off. The tense seventh round saw both boxers exchange punches. However, Loma could be a bit sharper. It was a VERY close – and exciting – fight. Everything still ends in season eight. Everyone has great moments, Loma with his headers, defending champion Haney with his impressive hits.
By the ninth round, the two boxers’ ability to harmonize was a miracle. They won’t slow down, these two. However, Haney performed better in the round. Loma hurt her man in tenths. Haney organized intelligently, but for the first time Loma prevailed in the teamfight. The eleventh round was easy to describe: Haney was simply knocked out by veteran Loma. However, Haney was able to regroup and take the lead in twelfth place. It was quite a fight.
The judges ruled thus:
116-112, 115-113, 115-113, all for Haney.
Later, Haney said: “I have to take my hat off to Loma. “He’s my toughest opponent.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” Lomachenko said. “Everybody saw what happened today.”
