Vasily Lomachenko politely let Shakur Stevenson know today that he’s not interested in fighting him next because he has “unfinished business” with undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney after losing a controversial 12 round unanimous decision against him last May.
Shakur wants to use the two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko as a stepping stone to build his popularity, and he’s not interested.
If Shakur had something to offer Loma in terms of belts, he’d take this fight, but he’s belt-less and powerless to force a title shot against undisputed lightweight champion Haney.
If the WBC tries to muscle Haney by ordering him to defend against Shakur, he’ll vacate, which he’s probably going to do anyway.
Right now, Haney is holding onto his undisputed championship, seemingly waiting for Geronta Davis to get out of jail so he can use the straps as leverage to get a fight with him.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum holds the key to Lomachenko getting the rematch that he wants against Haney. If Arum makes Haney an offer he can’t refuse, he’d likely take it.
The problem is the Haney-Lomachenko fight last May failed to bring in enormous numbers on ESPN PPV, and Arum probably won’t want to pour money into a rematch, knowing it’ll fail to cover the purses.
Lomachenko probably won’t get the rematch with Haney, as the four-belt champion is trying to set up a fight with WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis for his next fight.
Shakur (20-0, 11 KOs), who is the WBC mandatory to Haney (30-0, 15 KOs), called out Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) today on Twitter.
Stevenson recently struck out in his attempts at putting a fight with Haney, so he chose what he likely feels is the next best option by calling out the former three-division world champion Lomachenko.
Shakur is in a tough spot because he can’t force Haney to fight him. He was offered a 30%, which he turned down, but even if he’d agreed to it, it’s possible that Haney would have set up another requirement that he would need to agree to.
Haney isn’t crazy. He knows what he would be up against if he were to fight Shakur, and he’s not going to take that risky fight without the money being absurdly good, and it wouldn’t.
Lomachenko will eventually realize that Haney has no intentions of fighting him again, and then he’ll move on. It would be a good idea for Lomachenko to move back down to 130 to energize his career before it’s too late.
The 35-year-old Lomachneko will need to smell the coffee and wake up to the reality that Haney doesn’t fancy a fight with him.
