According to the trio that is Michael Benson, Lou DiBella and Mike Coppinger, the world lightweight championship showdown between Devin Haney, 29-0(15) and Vasiliy Lomachenko, 17-2(11) will now likely take place on May 20th, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The word is the fight will be held then and not before due to the upcoming Ramadan, with devout Muslim Haney set to fast during the religious period, therefore being unable to train.
But whenever this fight takes place doesn’t really matter – just so long as this one does happen. With so many big disappointments last year, where massive fights that we were teased with failed to go down, this fight, between the young champ and the former champ, is what the sport needs. 24 year old Haney is superb, while we all know out of this world special Loma is. Or was. Can the 34 year old southpaw and former pound-for-pound king rule again at 135 pounds? Or will Haney continue proving that he is one of the very best young fighters out there today?
DiBella says we should brace ourselves for a special performance from “The Dream.”
“People are going to see just how good @Realdevinhaney is. #bestvsvest #boxing # legacy,” DiBella wrote on social media.
Indeed, this fight could easily be marketed as a best versus the best match up. Who can honestly say with any certainty who wins? This is what we need more of: great fighters willing to risk their belts, their “0” in the case of Haney, by taking, well, risky fights. And this is a legacy fight, as DiBella points out.
Madison Square Garden is sure to be full on fight night for this one. It could be special, it could be epic. The level of skill on display could well be ridiculous. Credit to both guys for wanting to take this fight. Coppinger reports how nothing has been signed as of yet, but that things are “looking good.”
The evening of May 20 cannot come around fast enough.