Haney Vs. Lomachenko Pre-Fight Presser – Here’s What Happened
On May 20th, 2023, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Devin Haney, who has a record of 29-0 and 15 knockouts, will defend his title against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Haney arrives into the bout in the form of his life. After becoming undisputed with victory over George Kambosos Jr, and then defending his titles in the rematch, this elevated Haney into one of the biggest stars in boxing.
In contrast, Lomachenko has plenty to prove. Since his loss to Teofimo Lopez, the Ukrainian hasn’t looked the same.
His last bout against Jamaine Ortiz, while a unanimous decision victory, raised more questions than answers over his performance.
Can the Ukrainian recapture his form and become the once-force to be reckoned with, which made him the then-fastest three-division champion in history?
With that being said, this is what happened in the presser.
Bill Haney
On the fight: “They’ve been doing a lot of running, a lot of avoiding….We have a lot of respect for him. We know that he is a hall-of fame-fighter.”
On preparing for Loma: “Vasily’s dad is an amazing trainer and a hell of a father…He’s done a wonderful job with his son. I’ll let you know that we are prepared for him. We’ve been prepared for him for four years.”
Lomachenko
Lomachenko on being undisputed: “I’m excited [for] May 20th…I will try to do this and of course thank you team Haney who gave me this chance. We’ll see. We’re all prepared for this.
On the war: “War comes to your house and you’re just thinking about life and about your family. You can’t be thinking about your job, or sport.”
On preparing for Haney: “For me, it looks like I prepare for [my] first Olympic games. I go to bed with this dream. I wake up with this dream and of course we train hard…It’s a big, big motivation.”
‼️ Devin Haney vs Vasyl Lomachenko first face-off ahead of their fight on May 20th…
[📽️ @TRBoxing] pic.twitter.com/Y9V1jnN8zj
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 30, 2023
Devin Haney
On fighting Loma: “I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019. I’ve been begging for it, calling for it…When he had the belts, he didn’t want to fight me.”
On his legacy: “This is a legacy fight for me. Loma at one time was number one pound-for-pound…This is a real fight, not like an influencer.”
On his mentality: “The better the opposition, the better that I am as a fighter…Loma is a good fighter but I’m just on a totally different level. And on fight night, the world will see that. The world will see how good Devin Haney really is.”