Julio Cesar Chavez has voiced his opinion on who won the controversial undisputed lightweight title bout between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko and his choice is clear.
Haney edged out a unanimous decision victory, but many viewers felt that his Ukrainian counterpart had done enough to take the belds, but who better than Chavez to help settle the debate?
‘El César del Boxeo’ was a three-division world champion and is recognised as one of, if not the greatest Mexican fighter of all time. The now 60-year-old holds the record for most successful title defences (27), most title fight victories (31) and was unbeaten in his first ninety fights as a professional, eventually retiring with a record of 107-6-2.
Despite the outrage from the public, Chavez agreed with the judges and admitted that Haney deserved to keep his undisputed title as a result of his front-footed pressure during the fight, he told TV Azteca.
“He’s forced the fight going forward.”
“Without sentimentality, Haney did win.”
Many other former professionals seem to wholeheartedly disagree with that opinion, with Roy Jones Jr, Joe Calzaghe and Paulie Malignaggi all being vocal in their disagreement with the judges’ decision.
The fight was unquestionably close, with Shakur Stevenson changing his scoring to a draw after re-watching the fight, believing that Haney may have done enough to maintain his titles.
Lomachenko’s team have since lodged an appeal to each of the four sanctioning bodies, hoping that ‘Loma’ can be recognised as the mandatory challenger for each title and force a rematch – but there has been no response as of yet.
As for Haney, he seems keen to move on from Lomachenko and has made contact with Eddie Hearn about moving up in weight to take on WBC super-lightweight champion Regis Prograis.