Devin Haney retained his undisputed lightweight title against Vasiliy Lomachenko over the distance in Las Vegas.
The twelve rounds saw momentum swing both ways, however many felt that the unanimous decision in the champion’s favour was unfair to a rejuvenated Lomachenko.
It was Haney’s second defence of his four-belt championship status – the first coming in a rematch with George Kambosos Jr in Australia – and undoubtedly the toughest test of his 30-fight unbeaten campaign.
Packed with technique from two of the most skilled in the game, perhaps wasn’t expected to reach the heights of success the likes of Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia saw recently.
Dan Rafael reports that multiple sources have told him the sell-out fight generated around 150,000 pay-per-view buys via ESPN+ alongside cable and satellite services. The event cost $59.99 to purchase, and was available as part of the regular Sky Sports subscription in the UK.
Haney’s guaranteed purse was $4 million to Lomachenko’s $3 million.
The Ukrainian – who has one of the most successful amateur records the sport has ever seen – is now pushing for a rematch following what he and his team believe to be an ‘unjust’ decision.
Generally, fans, analysts and fellow fighters agree – at least in that Lomachenko did enough to win. Not many are claiming robbery the likes of which has been seen recently, though, and so the appeal is unlikely to do much.
Haney has responded by telling him to ‘take his loss like a man.’ He’s expected to face Shakur Stevenson next, who has enforced his mandatory position with the WBC to make the fight happen.