Top Rank boss Bob Arum reports that the long-anticipated fight between undisputed lightweight champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney and WBC mandatory Vasyl Lomachenko is “essentially made” for next year.
It’s going to be difficult for Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) to handle the colossal size advantage of Haney because he’s not only a lot heavier but also has a six-inch reach and two-inch height advantage to go along with what could be 15 to 20-lb weight surplus.
Weight classes are obviously made for a reason, and you can argue that Lomachenko would be far better off if he were still campaigning at featherweight, where he began his professional career in 2013, rather than mixing it up against welterweight-sized lightweights like Haney.
Arum is still deciding where and when to stage Haney vs. Lomachenko bout that will be most advantageous for them and Top Rank.
The four-belt 135-lb champion Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) wants the fight with Lomachenko to take place before Ramadan begins on March 22 because it will make it easier for him to melt down to the 135.
As big as Haney has looked recently, it’s going to be a major feat for him to get down to 135 in February or March to fight Loma, but if he has to wait until after Ramadan ends on April 21st, it might be impossible for him to make weight.
In some ways, it won’t be a big deal if Haney fails to make the 135-lb limit because he’s already planning on leaving the lightweight division immediately after to move up to 140.
Indeed, Arum is already planning on matching Haney against his Top Rank-promoted fighter Teofimo Lopez in a non-title fight in his first match in the light welterweight division.
Arum isn’t sure at this point whether he wants to allow Teofimo to first face WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis before making the fight with Haney.
However, the way that Arum seemed excited about having Haney fight Teofimo in a non-title fight, it seems obvious that he’s NOT going to let Teo take a risky fight against Prograis, especially given that he’ll likely be a huge underdog with very little chance of winning.
“[The Haney-Lomachenko fight is] “Essentially made. We’re looking for the site and the date, and that’ll be announced shortly. That fight will happen either before or right after Ramadan,” said Bob Arum to Sky Sports News.
“Regis Prograis is a possibility [for Teo]. There are other possibilities for Teofimo. One of the things is for him to take another fight and, if Haney beats Lomachenko, have Haney fight Teofimo in a non-title fight. That would be a big fight. So there are a lot of ways to go with these guys,” Arum said.
Arum didn’t say what his contingency plans are for Lomachenko if he loses to Haney. Will Arum persuade Loma to return to the 130 or 126-lb divisions if he loses badly to Haney, or will he have him walk the plank and feed him to the young shark Shakur Stevenson?
That would be a sad fate for such a great talent like Lomachenko, but that’s what happens when you fight out of your natural weight class against younger, bigger & faster young sharks.
If Lomachenko moves back down to 126, he can compete against these fine fighters:
- Luis Alberto Lopez
- Leigh Wood
- Rey Vargas
- Josh Warrington
- Robeisy Ramirez
- Gary Russell Jr
