Devin Haney looked massive today, standing next to Vasyl Lomachenko during their face-off at their final press conference for Saturday night.
Unlike in Haney’s last two fights against George Kambosos Jr, he’s not showing signs of being weight drained, and you wonder if he’ll look healthy when he hits the scales this Friday at the weigh-in.
As of today, the undisputed lightweight champion Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) appears to be around 145 lbs, meaning that he will need to drain in the next two days to get down to the 135-lb limit for Friday’s weigh-in.
Haney-Lomachenko are headlining this Saturday, May 20th, on ESPN PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view price is $59.99.
Devin Haney: “This fight is everything. I’ve been wanting for four years now, calling for Loma since I was his [WBC] mandatory. Now that I have the belts, I decided that I wanted to fight him when a lot of people didn’t want to fight him and wouldn’t want to fight him if they were in my position,” said Devin Haney to ESPN’s First Take when asked why he chose to defend against Vasily Lomachenko.
“This fight means everything to me. He’s a future Hall of Famer, and I look to take on his experience when I beat him.”
Stephen A Smith: “You’ve been saying you’ve wanted him for years. Why him specifically more so than anybody else? There are a lot of lightweights. We just saw Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis, and others. Why did you want Loma so badly all of these years?”
Devin Haney: “His resume speaks for itself. As I say, he’s a future Hall of Famer. With that victory over him, I take on his experience, and I put myself one step closer to where I want to be. That’s an all time great, one of the top guys on the pound-for-pound list, and it solidifies me as the best in the division.”
Stephen A Smith: “Very earlier in his career, he [Lomachenko] lost his second professional fight [against Orlando Solida]. Ever since then, he’s pretty much been dominating everybody he’s fought until he ran up against Teofimo Lopez, and Lopez beat him by a decision.
“What did you learn from watching that fight from watching Lopez beat Lomachenko? What were your thoughts about Lomachenko from seeing that fight?”
Devin Haney: “I’m taking some little things that Teo did in that fight. He did some good things in that fight. Every opponent does some things good. I just take a little from this person and that person and put it towards my game plan. But we’re going to do a lot of what Devin Haney does at the same time.”
Stephen A. Smith: “You’re 29-0, with 15 knockouts. A lot of people have questioned your knockout power. They know you’re an exceptional boxer, you’re a brilliant boxer, and you’ve got a lot of skills.
“Obviously, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather has been a mentor to some degree. Your father played a significant role in your life. We know about that.
“As the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Tell the world what they should expect to see from Devin Haney. Not just this fight, but how you evaluate your career and where you stand in the sport of boxing at this particular time.”
Devin Haney: “I’m the best fighter in the world, point, blank, period. I’m undisputed for a reason. I’ve taken on the toughest tasks one by one. Keep lining them up, and I’m going to keep knocking them down. I bring everything to the table.
“Anybody that says anything about power, when they get in the ring with me, it’s something different. I will show it on Saturday night. I will show another aspect to my game, and I’m excited for it. I want fans to tune in because it’s going to be a fun night for me and my team.”
Stephen A. Smith: “We’re going to tune in because Lomachenko is no joke and you’re no joke either. No question about it. I can’t wait to see this fight.”
