Vasyl Lomachenko recognises Saturday’s fight with Devin Haney represents the only chance he will ever have to become the undisputed lightweight champion.
The Ukrainian, uniquely in his career, is considered the underdog for the fight at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
Haney unified all four world lightweight titles when defeating George Kambosos Jr last June and defended them against the Australian four months later. Lomachenko had previously held all but the IBF title before losing to Teofimo Lopez – who in turn unexpectedly lost to Kambosos Jnr – and had been in contention to fight the Australian when Haney first did, missing out partly on account of the war in Ukraine.
At 35 and having long fought above his natural weight division he has demonstrated signs of decline, but more relevant in Lomachenko’s mind is the fact that his sport’s political landscape makes the opportunity to fight for all four titles so rare.
His manager Egis Klimas, speaking at the fighters’ grand arrivals at the MGM Grand, had just described Saturday’s fight as his “last chance” when Lomachenko said: “We all know – we understand. If I can’t take this chance, Haney goes up – I believe he’ll go up to the next weight classes – and all four belts will stay vacant. After that I’d need maybe 10 more years to unify. It’s unreal.
“It’s something special. It’s my goal. It’s my dream. I can’t wait.
“First of all, this is for God. Second of all, this is for my father [and trainer Anatoly], my family, and of course it’s for country. Of course.
“No more words. Just, May 20th. Saturday night. That’s it.
“I’m ready. I’m healthy, and, May 20.”
If it represents the toughest fight of an already remarkable career it also represents the toughest for Haney, incidentally nicknamed “The Dream”.
Haney is a long-term resident of Vegas and as one of the world’s most promising young fighters attended others’ grand arrivals in years gone by. He has also long modelled himself on Floyd Mayweather, who until his retirement in 2017 had, in a boxing context, for a decade represented Vegas’ biggest draw.
“The time has finally come, and I’m ready to show the world how great Devin Haney really is,” said the 24 year old, speaking, not unlike Mayweather, in the third person.
“I’m going to put on a dominant victory. Go in there and impose my will on Loma, and show the world how great Devin Haney really is. How versatile; how strong; how young and how experienced I am in that ring. It’s going to be a fun night for me and my team.
“It’s a blessing. It’s a dream come true. I went down under [to Australia], got the belts, and now I’m defending them at home. It’s the perfect story. It’s perfect for me. I look to just put on a great fight for the fans on Saturday night. I’m excited.
“It’s no distractions. I got tunnel vision. My eyes is on the prize. It’s for undisputed – I’m defending my belts, defending the throne. The king of the lightweight division. No distractions. We locked in.
“You’ll see what ‘The Dream’ is made of.”
