Andre Ward feels that Devin Haney should rematch Vasyl Lomachenko because he needs to “create separation” after their contested fight last weekend and, additionally, with many fans saying he should have lost.
Ward says that if it were him, he would take the rematch rather than move on, which is what Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) has talked of wanting to do. Haney only mentioned wanting to fight Gervonta Davis at the post-fight press conference.
Ward thinks that the boxing public is focused on is Haney-Lomachenko, and he doesn’t see a “bigger situation” out there for Haney for his next fight.
Haney doesn’t seem to want to fight his WBC mandatory Shakur Stevenson, and whether Gervonta will agree to face him is questionable.
Given that Haney didn’t re-sign with Top Rank and called Bob Arum “old a**,” it’s reasonable to conclude that the promoter won’t offer him the chance to fight the June 10th winner of Josh Taylor vs. Teofimo Lopez. Why would he? If Haney isn’t signed to Top Rank, it doesn’t help Arum’s company to allow him to fight Taylor or Teofimo.
Ward was a different type of talent than Haney, so it was a no-brainer for him to rematch someone. In Haney’s case, he could lose to Lomachenko, and there’s a good chance he will. If Haney gets beaten, he can permanently scratch Tank Davis’ name off his wishlist because the fight will never happen.
Lomachenko knows what he did wrong in last Saturday’s fight, and you can bet that he’s going to be fighting full throttle the entire contest, knowing that if he eases off in any round, the judges will give it to Haney.
“It’s tough for Devin because of the weight situation, but I’ve shown you what I would do,” said Andre Ward to Sporting News when asked if Devin Haney should move on or give Vasyl Lomachenko a rematch.
“I would personally run it back because I’m a competitor. It’s not just the public saying I lost, but personally for me, I wanted to create separation, and I think Devin Haney should do that.
“I think he should rematch Lomachenko because, from a legacy play and a money play, I don’t think there’s a bigger situation right now in this climate that he’s in right now coming off this first fight.
“The Shakur Stevenson fight is big, and obviously the Gervonta Davis fight is big, but people want him to rematch Loma. That’s the fight that everybody focused on, and I think he can get his money up and I think Devin can put on a better performance than he did in his last fight and create some separation.
“We’ll see because Loma, you got to consider him as well. I’m not sure that anybody wants to see a fight right now other than that one.
“No, it wasn’t a robbery. It was a close fight,” said Ward about the Haney vs. Lomachenko fight. “There are close rounds that we call ‘swing rounds,’ meaning there may be a punch that separates this guy from winning or the other guy winning the round.
“This stuff about ‘robbery,’ I’m tired of it, not just in this contest with Haney and Loma but just in general. You have hardcore fans, and then you have casual fans that descend upon our sport, and then a decision like this happens. People don’t really know most of the time what they’re looking at.
“Nobody was in that arena scoring each round, and then they come away with a narrative that really takes away from this fight and takes away from the winner and both guys putting on a tremendous performance,” said Ward.
