By Norm Frauenheim –
LAS VEGAS – It was first mentioned about four years ago. It didn’t happen then. But the possibility was never forgotten, cast aside like so much else in a business known more for what doesn’t happen than what does.
Vasiliy Lomachenko-versus-Devin Haney was always there, always a fight to be made because of singular skill instead of the usual hype.
Hype still sells, of course. A tangible reminder of that was there just a month ago in Tank Davis’ stoppage of Ryan Garcia. Pay-per-view, it was a winner. It’s hard to argue with a reported million buys and counting.
On the artistic scale, however, what transpired within the ropes was forgettable. There’s no demand for a sequel. Don’t expect it to get any consideration for Fight of the Year. Garcia’s seventh-round surrender was a blowout. Thanks for watching. And buying.
Twenty-eight days later, Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) and Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) meet Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a lightweight fight that’s not been preceded by over-the-top insults or the social-media army that follows them
It’s also hard to predict how ESPN+’s pay-per-view telecast ($59.99, 7 pm PT/10 pm ET) will fare. Best guess: It won’t begin to approach the Tank-Garcia number. The Lomachenko-Haney posters include a couple of chess pieces. Chess attracts a crowd more interested in skill than screaming.
It’s on that skill scale, however, that Lomachenko-Haney figures to score. Artistically, it promises to be a hit. All the elements are there for what could be a technical masterpiece, a back-and-forth dance between lightweights with quick feet and quicker minds.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been some rhetoric. This is boxing, after all. Instead of trash, however, this talk qualifies as the psychological byplay that precedes any opening bell to a significant fight for an undisputed title.
To wit: Haney calls Lomachenko “a dirty fighter.” He tells him that he knows Lomachenko is training to “hit him on the break.’’
Lomachenko looks back at him as though the Ukrainian has heard it all. At 35-years-old, he has.
The classically-schooled Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and perhaps the greatest Olympic boxer ever, has never been called dirty.
Dirty, perhaps, is another word for clever. Lomachenko is certainly that.
Haney might be throwing a psychological jab in an attempt to make Lomachenko think he’s not quite the accomplished tactician he believes himself to be.
Haney also might be asking the assigned referee, Harvey Dock of New Jersey, to take a closer look, especially during moments when Lomachenko steps inside. He’ll have to.
Lomachenko, who will be remembered as one of history’s great featherweights, has a 5 ½-inch disadvantage in reach. Expect him to step inside often. Expect Dock to separate them often. The key is what happens before and perhaps at the moment Dock steps between them.
If Haney can disrupt Lomachenko’s thinking early, he might have the cornerstone to victory. A couple of days before opening bell, betting odds suggested the fight will be close. Very close. From punch to psychology, any move – no matter how subtle – could prove decisive.
Haney doesn’t underestimate the challenge that awaits him. He’s never faced a smarter, more experienced foe.
The Lomachenko is about 11 years older, yet has 10 fewer pro bouts than Haney, who will turn 25 in November.
Haney has youth and size, a powerful, perhaps insurmountable combo. That double-edged advantage might be enough for the younger man to win a fight with enormous stakes.
Haney, currently under contract to Top Rank, will be a free agent after the bout. Against Lomachenko, he’s fighting for a victory that will enhance name recognition and pound-for-pound credibility. The bigger the victory, the brighter future for Haney.
It’s why he likes to mention that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum once compared Lomachenko to Muhammad Ali, acknowledged as The Greatest. He’s fighting to claim some of his own greatness
“I want to do more than beat him, I want to beat him up,’’ Haney told ESPN.
There are questions about whether he can. If there’s anybody who knows how to keep a fight close, it’s Lomachenko. There are also questions about how difficult it will be for Haney to make weight, 135 pounds. The official weigh-in is scheduled for Friday morning. The televised weigh-in late in the day is strictly for show.
A battle to make weight could drain Haney, who might make the jump to junior-welterweight (140) after the bout. Lomachenko knows that and probably has another tactic up his ever-resilient sleeve for that possibility.
Haney has shown great poise and discipline throughout his unbeaten career. He doesn’t get rattled. Guess here, he still won’t in a defining bout against his toughest foe ever.
Haney, by split-decision.
