Devin Haney too FLAWED to beat Lomachenko says Tim Bradley

Tim Bradley says Vasily Lomachenko would be too much for flawed WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney if those two fought right now. Lomachenko would like to challenge Haney, 23, for his WBC title, but there hasn’t been any serious interest on his part.

The fact that Bradley picks Lomachenko over Haney, means he feels he deserves to be the one that challenges undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr next.

Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been banging the drum loudly for Devin to be the next opponent for Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs). But with Bradley smothering Lomachenko with compliments, it tells you that he feels he deserves to be Kambosos’ next opponent.

Bradley saw weakness from Haney in his recent win over Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr. on December 4th that makes him believe that he would lose to the former three-division world champion Lomachenko.

Tim notes that Haney uses the “Philly shell” defense to try and block shots, but he uses it all wrong and gets hits A LOT. Against Lomachenko, Bradley sees Haney getting battered.

Haney is still hoping that his promoter Eddie Hearn can set up a fight between him and George Kambosos Jr. for the undisputed lightweight championship in early 2022 in Australia.

Devin is one of a handful of fighters along with Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia, and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis that are in the running for the fight against IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO 135-lb champion Kambosos.

The fans… the People… dont let them cheat me out of my shot at undisputed if anyone deserves it… its me!

— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) December 13, 2021

Bradley feels that the undefeated Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) would be too flawed to keep Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) off of him and would be picked apart with left hands.

Bradley picks Lomachenko to beat Haney

“Versus Loma? To be honest, I’ve got Lomachenko in that fight,” said Tim Bradley to Boxing Social when asked about how Devin Haney would do against Loma.

“Devin Haney, how is he going to keep him up off him? That’s the thing. See, Devin Haney is a great boxer, long, and he needs to create distance, but he makes some mistakes. He keeps his head on that centerline.

“You saw that left-hand tonight [from Lomachenko]? Well, Devin Haney will be eating a lot of those left hands coming from Lomachenko right down the middle.

“You saw [Joseph ‘Jojo’] Diaz land those left hands right now the middle,” said Bradley about Haney’s recent fight with Jojo on December 4th.

“There’s a lack of defense with the defense that he uses, which is the Philly shell,” Bradley said of Haney. “He TRIES to use the Philly shell, and he blocks the wrong way, and keeps his head on the centerline a lot of the time, and sitting directly in front of guys.

“Loma likes when guys sit in front of him. Hell, no. Shakur is a way more skillful fighter than Haney. Haney has got some skills. Good foot movement. He’s long; that’s what makes it so difficult.

“He’s super long, and he’s patient too, and he sets his traps and counters. But defensively, he gets hit. Shakur don’t get hit. Tank is dangerous. When do you see a guy with speed and power like that?

“You either see a guy with speed but no power or power but with a little bit of speed. If you have someone with speed and power, a small guy and skills to go along with it,” said Bradley.

Lomachenko is the last fighter that Haney and his promoters are looking to schedule a fight with, given the vital clash against Geroge Kambosos Jr. that is still a possibility.

If Haney beats Kambosos, it will make him a mini-star, making his promoter Hearn happy. It would be a superficial situation, though, because Haney beating Kambosos wouldn’t mean that he’s the best fighter at 135.

It would only mean that Haney was better than a flawed champion in Kambosos. Some would argue that the ONLY reason Australian fighter Kambosos is a four-belt champion now is that the guy he beat to win those belts, Teofimo Lopez, was sickly from the combination of weight loss and injuries to his throat and lungs.

Tank Davis is NOT afraid of Loma says, Bradley

Gervonta may not be afraid of fighting Lomachenko, but his promoters at Mayweather Promotion seem extremely reluctant to let their only moneymaker in their stable tangle with Loma.

You can argue that if Mayweather Promotions had a stable as deep as Matchroom Boxing’s, they would have given Tank Davis the greenlight to fight Lomachenko YEARS ago. Still, unfortunately, they have a tiny stable.

The only guy that Mayweather Promotions has with major talent is Gervonta, unless you call Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero a significant talent.

“I’ll tell you this. He [Tank Davis] did get hit with a lot of left hooks in his fight against [Isaac] Cruz,” said Bradley. “So he has some fundamental flaws, he has, but I guess he knows he can take the shot.

“It’s okay. But if he gets hit with a Ryan Garcia left hook or anybody else that has some serious punching power, he can be hurt.

“I don’t think he’s scared. I think it’s a business thing,” said Bradley when asked if Tank is afraid of fighting Lomachenko. “I’ve always had respect for Tank because of his skill set, and I like the fact that he took on [Leo] Santa Cruz. I respect that.

“I look at the challenge. Him [Tank] being the smaller guy going up to 140. I look at that as a challenge; that is a challenge. That guy [Mario Barrios] was big, and you could see a huge size difference in that fight.

Barrios can box, and he comes from a well-schooled trainer in Virgil [Hunter], who trained him and got him prepared. They said they were going to beat Tank.

“He was doing really well, but then Tank figured out a way to get him up out of there. A body shot and then cleaned clock.

“I think Tank can box. You saw a little bit of that against Cruz, but I also think he can punch and can be the hunter. He’s a small guy, and he likes to fight bigger guys. I think it was a little difficult for him to fight a smaller guy this time around.

“He [Gervonta] couldn’t line up his uppercut, and that’s the reason why you saw him a lot of time up over the top of the smaller guy. Usually, guys are on top of him. It’s a huge difference,” said Bradley.

Lomachenko showed weakness against Commey

Bradley is making a big deal about Lomachenko showing mercy for his opponent Richard Commey last Saturday night when he had him on the brink of a knockout.

I just want to thank everyone for the incredible support over the last week. My congratulations to @VasylLomachenko the better man won and it was a pleasure to share the ring with you. God Bless you and your family ❤️🇬🇭❤️🇺🇦❤️

— Richard Commey (@RichardCommey) December 12, 2021

According to Bradley, Lomachenko showed “weakness” by not going for the finish when he had Commey hurt after dropping him in round seventh.

Bradley is blowing things out of proportion and failing to realize that Lomachenko didn’t want to knockout Commey, who he liked as a person.

“It was a fantastic performance, but I didn’t like the way, and I’d never seen it before, and I honor it in the fact that he showed humility. But you can’t do that in the ring,” said Bradley on Lomachenko, asking Commey’s corner to stop the fight in the seventh round.

“‘You want to stop this fight?'” said Bradley in imitating Lomachenko in asking Commey’s corner to stop the fight in the seventh round after dropping Richard. “Come on, bro. You got to finish these dudes, Man.

“If you’ve got the guy hurt, ain’t no point in doing that. You’ve got to take these guys out,” said Bradley. “That shows weakness. To me, that shows weakness,” said Bradley in making a big deal about Lomachenko showing mercy to Commey.

“I respect him, but you’ve got to get these guys up out of there. If he didn’t do that, he probably would have stopped him. I don’t think he would have done that against those guys,” said Bradley when asked if Lomachenko would have shown mercy against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis or George Kambosos Jr.

“But Loma had a lot of respect for Commey; both of these guys had a lot of respect for one another, and he definitely showed a lot of mercy, he did.

“He showed vintage Lomachenko tonight with his footwork moving around Commey. Shakur [Stevenson] is a different animal and is someone that understands distance just as well as Lomachenko, and he’s a lot bigger as well.

“He doesn’t have the same punching power [as Lomachenko], but he still knows how to control that distance and gauge whatever Lomachenko is trying to dish.

“You’ve got to think about the southpaw stance too. Both guys [Lomachenko and Shakur] are both southpaws, so it’s a close stance. So it would be interesting to see. Shakur just fought a southpaw in [Jamel] Herring, and he won’t have a problem with a southpaw.

Tim wants Tank Davis vs. Lomachenko

“We want to see Tank and Loma. Come on, bro. Hell, yeah, it’s a competitive fight,” said Bradley on a future fight between Gervonta Davis and Lomachenko.

“You got Tank with that punching power and speed, and he can box too. You got Lomachenko with the footwork and everything to go along with him. Hell, yeah, I still want to see the fight because Tank is dangerous, man,” Bradley said.

Lomachenko has been asking for a fight against Gervonta since he was a super featherweight, but Mayweather Promotions have shown no interest in putting that fight together.

It’s believed that Tank will be kept away from Lomachenko until Loma is showing signs of being past his prime in two or three years. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is doing an excellent job of protecting Gervonta like a mother hen protecting her little nestling from a fox.

If Lomachenko had the opportunity to fight Tank Davis now, it would be a feeding frenzy.

We just saw how Tank struggled against the young 23-year-old slugger Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in their fight on December 5th.

Tank couldn’t even beat Pitbull Cruz without controversy, which tells you how overmatched the Baltimore native would be against a talent like Lomachenko.

On Keith Thurman choosing Barrios for a comeback

Bradley isn’t impressed with former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman choosing former WBA 140-lb champion Mario Barrios as his comeback opponent.

Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought since his loss to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019, and he’s arguably showing a lot of bravery by taking on the 26-year-old Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs). He looked good despite losing his last fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis by an 11th round knockout last June.

“That’s hilarious,” said Bradley when asked about his reaction to Barrios facing Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman next. “Keith Thurman, come on. What are you doing, Keith? Mercenary now. Keith is all about that bread.

“Keith is one foot in and one foot out. He’s looking for the fish. It’s similar to Mikey Garcia, same thing. He’s looking for the best fight, a fight that he can possibly win, and then get the most money from. So Barrios is that guy,” said Bradley.

If Thurman wins his comeback fight, he’ll challenge WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford for his belt in early 2022. You can only imagine how Thurman will shake up the boxing world if he pulls off an improbable victory over Crawford.

With Thurman’s power, speed, and boxing pedigree, it’s possible he could beat the 34-year-old Crawford, who isn’t young.