Former three-weight world champion Vasily Lomachenko 17-2 (11) is unconcerned with the vaunted jab of undisputed lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 29-0 (15) ahead of their clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian southpaw likened Haney’s left stick to the left hook of Ryan Garcia, who was largely unsuccessful landing his signature punch in his seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis earlier last month.
“Look, it’s the same like Ryan Garcia, who has the left hook, but it doesn’t work with guys who know boxing,” Lomachenko said today as he arrived in Las Vegas for his world title challenge.
“We understand it, we know it. If you know about his jab, I know about his jab too.”
But Haney, 24, believes he knows how Lomachenko is going to fight too.
“We know Loma, we know his game plan – to get inside, try to make it dirty as possible, hit on the break and things like that,” Haney said.
“But I’m a strong fighter, I’m big, I’m conditioned, and I’m going to go in there and break him down.”
There is certainly no love lost between Haney and Lomachenko. The American believes the challenger is not all what he seems.
“It was personal for me. One, I generally do not like the dude. I think he’s someone who isn’t who he portrays to be,” Haney said on the Pivot Podcast.
“He’s very arrogant.
“Behind closed doors he’s not the person he’s perceived to be and I wanted that fight [four years ago]. They went a different route.”
Lomachenko held the WBA, WBO and IBF titles in 2019 and was designated WBC Franchise champion at the time. The following year he faced Teofimo Lopez 18-1 (13) in defence of his belts, only to lose them by unanimous decision.
At the same time, the WBC awarded Haney their belt without a fight. Haney copped criticism from some quarters about how he became a titlist, but his quality at the top level was proved with his back-to-back win over George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-2 (10), who had lifted the other three major world titles from Lopez.
“They said I was an email champion,” Haney said. “They said I was this, they said I was that. They said I didn’t have a real belt. Now it’s like, I want to prove to y’all how many levels above him I am.
“This is a guy y’all chose. This is a guy that you said was number one. He was pound-for-pound, he was this, he was that. Well, now I’m that guy. So I’m going to make him pay for what he put me through.
“Once you win a belt, you get to keep your belt forever. It’s like a ring in football. It’s forever your belt, but sanctioning as a champion, you can lose your belt, or you can retire and it’s gone.”
