By the point Devin Haney strolled into the post-fight information convention on the MGM Grand Backyard Area in Las Vegas, the 24-year-old undisputed light-weight champion was conscious of the widespread notion that judges had erred in awarding him a unanimous determination win over Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday night time.
Haney, who holds light-weight belts from all 4 main sanctioning our bodies, linked with heavier punches over the championship bout’s 12 rounds, however the punch statistics stated Lomachenko, a 35-year-old from Ukraine, threw and landed extra.
Whereas many followers discussing the bout on social media griped about Haney’s win, the undefeated contender Shakur Stevenson, who had been angling for a showdown with Saturday night time’s winner, known as the end result a “theft.”
Stevenson might have overstated the case — two judges scored the bout 115-113 for Haney, whereas a 3rd had Haney profitable it 116-112, all comparatively shut. However the end result, and the backlash to it, spotlight a paradox constructed into high-level boxing.
Followers clamor for marquee matchups between elite fighters, and not too long ago the light-weight division has delivered. An April matchup between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia bought out T-Cellular Area and generated 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. Saturday’s bout between Haney, the undisputed light-weight champion, and Lomachenko, a former world champion in three divisions, had even larger stakes, with 4 world title belts on the road.
However intently contested bouts typically spawn debatable choices. In a bout the place neither fighter had a transparent edge, one choose, Dave Moretti, scored eight rounds in Haney’s favor.
Amid all of the arguing on-line, Haney instructed reporters that to him, the win felt definitive.
“Folks can say what they need to say,” stated Haney, now 30-0 with 15 knockouts. “The judges had a unanimous determination.”
Within the lead-up to Saturday’s bout, Haney predicted he would pound Lomachenko into retirement. He possessed edges in top and attain, and stated his improved punching energy would assist him make Lomachenko look common.
In accordance with CompuBox, Lomachenko landed 124 of 564 punches, in contrast with 110 of 405 for Haney. In novice boxing, the place judges favor output over punching energy, and the place Lomachenko received two Olympic titles, merely outlanding his opponent would seemingly have earned him the choice.
A lot of Saturday’s bout passed off at shut vary, which favored the shorter-armed Lomachenko, who scored repeatedly with lead left fingers to Haney’s brow.
“For me it’s a giant, large query,” Lomachenko, now 17-3 with 11 knockouts, instructed reporters at a information convention. “What occurred?”
Professional bouts are scored spherical by spherical, so cumulative punch stats may be deceptive. Lomachenko outlanded Haney in 5 rounds, and Haney outlanded Lomachenko in 5 others. Within the remaining two frames, the fighters landed the identical variety of punches.
Lots of Haney’s connects have been heavy physique blows that blunted Lomachenko’s advances. Often he landed sharp left hooks to restrict Lomachenko’s lateral motion. Haney acknowledged that he fought at Lomachenko’s most popular vary, however stated he had performed it deliberately.
“I knew I needed to take it to him, and combat a combat you guys haven’t seen me combat earlier than,” Haney stated. “Not each combat goes to be fairly.”
Nonetheless, for folks seeking to second-guess the combat’s judges, Spherical 10 stands out.
Statistically, Lomachenko held a bonus — 11 landed punches to Haney’s 5. He additionally appeared the aggressor, and appeared to stun Haney with one in all his punches. However Moretti awarded the tenth to Haney.
His scorecard was one in all a number of causes Lomachenko’s supervisor, Egis Klimas, stated he deliberate to file a proper protest on Monday.
“I assure we’re going to kill that call,” Klimas instructed reporters.
The opposite two scorecards, which favored Haney by one spherical, have been extra reflective of the combat’s tight margins and brisk tempo.
In the course of the break between Rounds 7 and eight, Lomachenko’s cornermen urged him to throw extra jabs. He opened Spherical 8 aggressively, and walked into a pointy physique shot from Haney. When Lomachenko lastly landed his personal jab, the capability crowd chanted “Loma.” Earlier than the bell, Haney had given some floor.
Within the closing spherical, Haney resumed his two-fisted physique assault. When Lomachenko landed a straight left, Haney answered with two hooks. Simply earlier than the ultimate bell, Haney landed a protracted left jab.
Lomachenko left the bout impressed with Haney’s expertise.
To some extent.
“If you happen to’re speaking about Linares, if you happen to’re speaking about Lopez — for me, they’re higher than Haney,” Lomachenko stated, referring to Jorge Linares and Teofimo Lopez, two of his previous opponents.
Lomachenko’s in-ring future stays hazy. He proved he’s nonetheless an elite performer in a talent-laden light-weight division, however has acknowledged that this bout was seemingly his closing probability to turn out to be an undisputed champion.
For his half, Haney had hoped Saturday’s bout would erase doubts about his championship credentials, however the outcome solely seems to have emboldened potential opponents.
“Devin’s not on my degree, and I’m going to point out it,” stated Stevenson, the previous 130-pound champion.
Haney, who has competed at 135 kilos since his adolescence, mentioned a probationary transfer to the 140-pound tremendous light-weight class. He doesn’t plan to vacate his light-weight titles, although. As an alternative, he teased mega fights towards Stevenson and Davis, who’s nicknamed Tank.
“Me and Tank is an enormous combat,” he stated. “It’s going to occur, earlier than later.”