Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko made our job difficult.
Haney defeated Lomachenko by a close but unanimous decision to retain the undisputed 135-pound championship and perfect record Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The scores 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 were not well received in some rounds, leaving many experts and fans in tears.
I scored it 114-114, a draw. I think Haney delivered stronger, more obvious hits – multiple hits to the body – in the first half of the match. Lomachenko regrouped to control the following innings.
However, we must admit that others believe that the judges’ incompetence or corruption caused Lomachenko to lose the victory he won.
So how does this affect Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound rankings?
Lomachenko and Haney sat in 11th and 15th place respectively, entering the fight. Should Haney be honored just because he raised his hand? Or do we make decisions based on what our eyes tell us?
Here’s what we decided to do after careful consideration: leave everything behind while they’re in the fight.
Lomachenko, the former pound king, has proven he is still one of the best in the business by playing against a top young champion on even terms or doing enough to win. , according to public opinion.
Therefore, we cannot justify dropping him in the rankings. That would only add to what many believe is an injustice.
Meanwhile, Haney deserves credit for proving that he can compete on an equal footing with an opponent ranked higher than him. Anyone who believes Lomachenko deserves to win a broad decision is as lost as they believe the official judges did.
At the same time, we couldn’t raise Haney after a controversial win. After all, numbers 12-14 Artur Beterbiev, Shakur Stevenson and Roman Gonzalez sit above him.
His performance against Lomachenko didn’t deserve any of the above.
Ultimately, if Lomachenko and Haney want to prove that they’re higher up in the Boxing Junkie roster, then they’ll have to do it against other opponents in the upcoming matches.
Next pound-for-pounder promotion: Honors Josh Taylor is scheduled to defend his 140-pound WBO belt against Teofimo Lopez on June 10 in New York.
Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:
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POUND-FOR-POUND
- Terence Crawford – Reportedly close to reaching an agreement to face No. 4 Errol Spence Jr. to win the undisputed 147-pound championship but no announcement was made.
- Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to challenge 122-pound owner and Honoree Stephen Fulton Jr. on July 25 in Tokyo.
- Oleksandr Usyk – Reportedly in talks to defend his three heavyweight belts against Daniel Dubois but nothing concrete emerged from the talks.
- Errol Spence Jr. – It is reported that an agreement has been reached to face No. 1 Terence Crawford for the undisputed 147-pound championship but no announcement has been made.
- Dmitri Bivol – Expected to defend his 175th title against Canelo Alvarez in a rematch in September but no deal has been reached..
- Tyson’s Rage – Reportedly considering defending the title against former champion Andy Ruiz Jr. or Zhilei Zhang in July.
- Juan Francisco Estrada – No scheduled wars.
- Canelo Alvarez– Expected to challenge 175 title owner Dmitry Bivol in a rematch in September but no deal has been reached yet
- Jermell Charlo – No scheduled wars.
- Gervonta Davis – No scheduled wars.
- Vasiliy Lomachenko – No scheduled wars.
- Artur Betterbiev – Reportedly close to reaching a deal to defend his 175-pound belt against Callum Smith in August in Canada but the deal has yet to be finalized.
- Shakur Stevenson – No scheduled wars.
- Roman Gonzalez – There are no scheduled wars.
- Devin Haney – No scheduled wars.
honorable mention (alphabetically): David Benavidez (no battle schedule); Jermall Charlo (no battle schedule); Stephen Fulton Jr. (scheduled to defend her 122-pound title against Naoya Inoue No. 2 on July 25 in Tokyo); Kazuto Ioka (scheduled to challenge 115-pound owner Joshua Franco on June 24 in Tokyo); Josh Taylor (scheduled to defend the 140-pound WBO belt against Teofimo Lopez on June 10 in New York).
