Ukrainian boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko claimed that he has faced tougher opponents than Devin Haney. According to Lomachenko, Jorge Linares and Teofimo Lopez are better fighters than Haney, who recently defeated Lomachenko via unanimous decision.
Even though the match seemed evenly matched, all three judges unanimously scored the bout in favor of Haney. At a post-fight press conference, Lomachenko expressed his interest in seeing Haney fight Jamaine Ortiz.
Teofimo Lopez, who bested Lomachenko in a lightweight title fight in October 2020, also received praise from the Ukrainian boxer. Despite getting off to a strong start, Lomachenko failed to stop Lopez in the latter half of their match.
In contrast, Lomachenko knocked out Linares with a body shot during their lightweight championship match five years ago. Even though Linares led on one scorecard entering the 10th round, Lomachenko was still able to win via a knockout. In contrast, Linares lost to Haney via unanimous decision almost two years ago.
During the recent Haney-Lomachenko bout, Haney fought more aggressively than usual, but Lomachenko managed to land a series of power punches on Haney during the 10th and 11th rounds. Haney, meanwhile, attacked Lomachenko’s southpaw stance effectively with multiple right-hand blows to the body. Despite the competitiveness of the match, Lomachenko expressed disappointment in Haney’s performance.
While Lomachenko’s reaction was just his opinion, his praise of Linares and Lopez can be seen as a way of challenging Haney to prove himself against tougher opponents.