Devin Haney Vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko Moves Towards May Fight Date
It is likely to take place in New York.
The Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko fight looks like it’s going to land on May 20, despite Haney previously speaking against it.
ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez reported the date, which Haney later confirmed on social media, though he had to clarify one thing.
“Not MSG.. Stay tuned,” he tweeted.
Not MSG.. stay tuned 😤 https://t.co/XVAwHQQUNq
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) January 14, 2023
Haney and Lomachenko began negotiations in November. The conversations originally sparked when Lomachenko met scrappy Jamaine Ortiz at Madison Square Garden in October. Lomachenko fought his way back to a unanimous decision victory, and Haney was ringside to witness it.
Though Haney said that he wasn’t impressed, he still offered a fight, which Lomachenko immediately agreed to. Lomachenko was once the unified lightweight champion, but he lost those titles to Teofimo Lopez in 2020.
Now, Lomachenko has a second chance.
Haney – who upset former champion George Kambosos Jr twice for the undisputed lightweight crown – had accused Top Rank of giving Lomachenko an advantage for their fight.
In December, Haney posted a series of tweets where he expressed his frustrations with Top Rank, claiming that they want to push his fight with Lomachenko to May, though he previously told them that he wants to fight before March because of Ramadan.
Ramadan is a month-long observance in the Islamic calendar that consists of prayer and fasting. It takes place between March 22 and April 21.
Now, since the fight is allegedly for May 20, Haney could have a difficult time since it would take place after Ramadan.
“I literally told Top Rank I wanted to fight before Ramadan,” Haney previously wrote in a tweet.
“It’s not about the someone else… it’s about giving me a date to fight! You know they want they boy Loma to have another shot!”
The fight is also rumored to take place on pay-per-view instead of regular television – a decision that has already received some pushback.