FIGHT WEEK
Devin Haney is expected to defend his undisputed 135-pound title against Vasiliy Lomachenko, the biggest bout of Haney’s career and a chance for Lomachenko to regain lost glory. Also, in the UK, Katie Taylor will challenge 140-pound champion Chantelle Cameron.
DEVIN HANEY (29-0first5 KOS)
WITH. VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-2, 11 KOS)
- When: Saturday, May 20
- Time: 10pm ET / 7pm Pacific Time (main event follows)
- Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas
- television/stream: Pay per view
- Assignment: Light weight (135 pounds)
- threatened: Haney’s undisputed championship
- Pound-for-pound ratings: Lomachenko No. 11, Haney No. 15
- the odds: Haney 2½-1 favorite (multi-store average)
- Also on the card: Oscar Valdez vs. Adam Lopez, rematch, junior lightweight; Junto Nakatani versus Andrew Moloney, bantamweights (for the vacant WBO title); Raymond Muratalla vs. Jeremia Nakathila, lightweight; Nico Ali Walsh vs. TBA, middleweight
- Guess: Haney SD
- Background: Haney isn’t necessarily the best 135-pound athlete in the world but he has all the titles, the title he took from George Kambosos with a single hit unanimous decision June of last year and after successful defense by scoring the same point in a rematch in October. The slick 24-year-old has consecutively beaten Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz Jr. – all by decision – to set up his first Kambosos fight and make him one of the top young boxers in the world. Now is the biggest challenge of his career, at least on paper. Lomachenko, one of the greatest amateur boxers ever, became a professional three-division champion in just 12 fights and eventually climbed to the top of multiple weight lists. Then disaster came, a unanimous decision lost to Teofimo Lopez cost him three lightweight titles and damaged his reputation. The Ukrainian entered that fight with a nagging shoulder injury but was still forced to rebuild. He has won three games in a row since the defeat, the last one (in October) is clear Decision on Jamaine Ortiz in his country’s war with Russia. Now, 35-year-old Lomachenko has a chance to regain what was lost in one of the biggest games of the year.
CHANTELLE CAMERON (17-0.8 KO)
WITH. KATIE TAYLOR (22-0.6 KOS)
- When: Saturday, May 20
- Time: 3 p.m. ET / noon Pacific Time (main event follows)
- Where: 3 Arena, Dublin, Ireland
- television/stream: DAZN
- Assignment: Junior weight class (140 pounds)
- threatened: Cameron’s undisputed championship
- the odds: Taylor 1½-1 favorite (multi-store average)
- Also on the card: Terri Harper vs Cecilia Braekhus, junior middleweight (for Harper’s WBA title); Dennis Hogan versus James Metcalf, junior middleweight; Gary Cully vs Jose Felix, lightweight
- Guess: Taylor University
- Background: Taylor, arguably the face of women’s boxing, will fight as a challenger for the second time in her career. The 2012 Olympic champion from Ireland won her first professional title when she overcame Anahi Ester Sanchez for the vacant 135-pound belt in October 2017 and successfully defended 13 times, adding three more. throughout the journey. She also won the 140-pound belt, defeating then-140-pound champion Christina Linardatou in 2019, after which she vacated her belt. Cameron, from the United Kingdom, won her first title when she stopped Melissa Hernandez in five rounds in May 2021. She has defended three times, including a close but decisive victory. decided against Jessica McCaskill to win all four major junior weight titles in November . This could be the biggest fight of both boxers’ careers. A win over the great Taylor would allow Cameron to join Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano at the top of the women’s boxing world. If Taylor wins, she will become the second woman to become the undisputed champion in the second division. Shield is the first.
FIGHT THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
- Otar Eranosyan vs Edy Valencia Mercado, junior lightweight, Plant City, Florida (ProBox TV)
SUNDAY
- Lucas Bahdi vs Jesus Amparan, lightweight, Niagara Falls, Canada (DAZN)
