By Sam Volz: Paulie Malignaggi still believes Devin Haney will unlikely take the fight with Vasyl Lomachenko despite his his “suspect” performance against Jermaine Ortiz last Saturday night in New York.
After the fight, a VERY large Haney went into the ring to build hype for a fight against Lomachenko. Malignaggi feels that with the huge size of Haney, who looked literally three divisions larger than Lomachenko, he won’t make weight, and there won’t be a fight.
Haney looked like a giant Megalodon standing next to a tiny minnow fish when standing across from Lomachenko. The size difference between the two fighters was huge, making it impossible to imagine a fight taking place between them.
How Haney made weight for his last fight against George Kambosos Jr was just hard to know because Devin is clearly a true welterweight at this point in his career. Even 140 is too small for him with his body frame.
If Haney comes in too heavy, perhaps ten pounds over the 135-lb limit, it’s likely the fight will be canceled because that would make him a welterweight going up against a lightweight.
Another possibility is Haney will come in over the 135-lb limit by four or five lbs, and the belts will be stripped from him but available for Loma to win. Still, it’ll be difficult for Lomachenlo to win, especially if Haney rehydrates into the mid-150s, looking like a junior middleweight.
Ortiz (16-1-1, 8 KOs) gave the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) one of the toughest fights of his career in a fight that Loma pulled out in the championship rounds at Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko won by the scores 116-112, 117-111, and 115-113.
Some boxing fans felt that the fight should have been scored as a draw if not a win for Ortiz, but the seeming majority of the fans on social media had Lomachenko win based on his late surge in the second half.
“He’s undersized for a lightweight, but this is a guy in order to find competition, he fights in a weight class that’s not comfortable for him,” said Paulie Malignaggi on Pauly TV about Vasily Lomachenko competing in a division where he’s much smaller than his opposition.
“What is Devin Haney going to do? Is he going to take the fight? I still lean that he’s not going to take the fight. He got in the ring last night. You’re the undisputed lightweight champion at the moment, and you got the right to get in the ring.
“It doesn’t mean anything that Haney said that he went to Australia [for George Kambosos Jr fight] and that he agreed to all the terms. That doesn’t mean anything to Lomachenko. Lomachenko had agreed to all the terms too, and then he pulled out of the fight because Lomachenko went to the war.
“When you have a very beatable champion in George Kambosos. It was clear that he wasn’t going to be able to make the adjustments in the rematch [with Haney], and he wasn’t. He had a good night against Teofimo Lopez.
“Lomachenko said last night that he’s willing to give all the financial compensations to Devin Haney in order to get this title shot. Is it just bluster because I believe Lomachenko is going to take the fight under terms that are very, very beneficial to Haney as far as finances?
“Haney, in a lot of ways, deserves it because he went through a lot of the same things with Kambosos, as he mentioned. But you can’t make like that’s a way out for Lomachenko because Lomachenko was willing to do that against Kambosos as well, but he ended up pulling out of the fight.
“But you got to make it realistic because this is a fighter [Lomachenko] has won world titles in three different weight classes. You also got to understand who you’re fighting as well.
“Haney is the undisputed champion, and Lomachenko is the top contender for that title. He’s also a guy that wants to make the fight and is willing to make the fight.
“Are we going to get Haney vs. Lomachenko? I’ve said from the beginning that I didn’t think we were. I still lean that I don’t think we will.
“Based on the fact that Bill [Haney] was willing to bet me that he would take the fight but not win the fight, also had me thinking that they don’t intend on taking the fight.
“I only think it’s cool that if you make the fight. Even Lomachenko mentioned Devin is a big lightweight. I admit it’s probably not easy to make weight for Devin. Bill also mentioned that as well.
“He’s [Haney] been a lightweight for a long time. It’s a big advantage he has over Lomachenko if he can make the weight. Physically, we can see that Lomachenko is undersized, and it’s bothered him against some of these lightweights.
“What happens if it doesn’t happen? What happens if Haney moves up? Do Shakur and Loma pick up the vacant titles and fight each other? What happens in that fight eventually?
“I think that fight is the angle they’re going to go in if Devin moves up in weight. I think Loma and Shakur will look to pick up the remaining straggling titles. But I know how important the undisputed titles are to Lomachenko.
“I think he’s going to make his best effort to make this fight. I think the Haneys are also going to make their best effort to make this fight or if they intend to make this fight because, again, if you can’t make weight, you can’t make the fight.
“But if you can’t make weight, why did you get in the ring last night [with Lomachenko]? That’s my thoughts.
“After the fight, Haney got in the ring. I don’t think Haney can make the lightweight division. Devin may not be able to make the weight, but you keep pushing this thing that Lomachenko may be scared of you. Lomachenko is not scared of you.
“If you keep chasing this and keep bringing this up, you got to kind of do the fight. I don’t know where we’re heading here because the gist I got from Bill [Haney] was that his son couldn’t make weight.
“The gist I got was, ‘Oh, you know, he didn’t look healthy.’ Okay, then, why are we having this discussion, guys? Why are we doing this? You’re either going to fight, or you’re not going to fight.
“You can say that Lomachenko looked a little suspect last night, but a lot of it was because of Jermaine Ortiz, not because of Lomachenko. If Lomachenko is going to have an issue at lightweight, it’s because he’s smaller than everybody else.
“Lomachenko is so good; he can’t even fight in his own weight class. He’s got to fight at a weight where he’s clearly the smaller guy, and Haney is a big lightweight. He would have advantages if he made the fight and if he made the negotiations happen and he took the fight.
“He would be even bigger than Ortiz. I don’t know if Haney would be able to use his physicality in that way. He’s not really a physical kind of fighter. He’s more of an athletic type of fighter.
“Based on what happened last night, a lot more people are going to be looking at Haney to win that fight based on how Lomachenko looked last night.
“But again, I give Jermaine Ortiz more credit. Devin Haney is a good fighter too, but Jermaine Ortiz was doing some very particular things in that fight. There are certain hustle moves that Jermain Ortiz does. When he gets close, he starts throwing a bunch of combinations with his hands.
“From the outside, he’s already giving you problems with his hands. From the inside, he moves his hands and throws those combinations and puts you on the backside defensively a little bit, and takes charge of some of the rounds in that way.
“If his stamina held up, it would be better for him, but obviously, he faded away late. Again, good performance from Jermaine Ortiz. Solid performance from Vasily Lomachenko. Is he fading?
“Is the lightweight division more problematic for Lomachenko as he’s shown in the past? He gets these wins, but he’s not as dominant in these lightweight fights, and maybe he’s getting a little older.
“At featherweight and super featherweight, he was pretty dominant to the point where it wasn’t fun to watch him. It was just watching him throw beatings to everybody, and he was beating some pretty good fighters too.
“At lightweight, the fights get a little bit more competitive, I’m noticing,” said Malignaggi about Lomachenko.
