Devin Haney revealed today that his fight against Vasyl Lomachenko will be “announced soon” for May 20th, and they’re just working on picking a venue between Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas. The 24-year-old Haney is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week for the Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury.
Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), the undisputed lightweight champion, says he wants to defend against Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) in Saudi Arabia.
It’s unknown at this point where the Saudis will want to pay to stage the fight over there. While Haney vs. Lomachenko is an excellent fight in the eyes of hardcore boxing fans, it falls well short of being a mega-fight.
Of course, with Jake Paul fighting Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia this Saturday, the bar is pretty low. However, Paul has millions of followers on Youtube, Instagram & Twitter, so that’s obviously a major reason why the fight is being staged there. Haney and Loma don’t have that kind of popularity, unfortunately.
“Right now, it’s just the site. Are we going to do it here, or are we going to do it in Vegas? That’ll be announced soon, but hopefully, we can do it here [Saudi Arabia],” said Devin Haney to iD Boxing when asked what the hold up is for the announcement of his May 20th fight against Vasyl Lomachenko.
“Because it’s a great opportunity, and especially for me to fight in front of so many Muslims. This is a dream of mine and a great opportunity,” said Haney when asked why he wants to fight so badly in Saudi Arabia.
“We got to see when he steps foot inside the ring,” said Haney when asked if Lomachenko is the toughest fight of his career. “On paper it is, but right now, he is a great match-up for me, but we got to see.
“I want to get in there and see if he’s the toughest test. Of course, I want to make it the easiest test. No one likes to take punishment for fun, but we’re going to prepare for the best Loma.
“We’ll see what shows up. We’re preparing for [him at his best,” said Haney when asked if Lomachenko intentionally didn’t look good in his last fight against Jamaine Ortiz last October to lure him into fighting him.
“We’re studying him when he was in his prime and having his best fights because one fight doesn’t define you,” said Haney.