Paulie Malignaggi is incensed by the scoring of Devin Haney’s lightweight undisputed title defence against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Haney retained his four belts against the elite Ukrainian over the distance in an intense, high-level battle of technique, timing and movement.
Whilst many agree that it was an extremely close affair, others had Lomachenko winning and can’t see a way in which Haney might. Malignaggi, a former world champion turned analyst, is very firmly in that camp.
He told FightHype that ‘boxing politics’ were at the root of the matter.
” I was going to praise Haney for some of the things he did well last night, cause Haney’s surprised me. He did things better than I expected him to, but he still lost the fight. It’s clear as day he lost the fight. Everybody knows.”
“It’s almost unanimous at this point, everybody felt like he was losing the fight. But it’s boxing politics. There’s more of a future for a 24-year-old as undisputed champion than there is for a 35-year-old. And, unfortunately, the business of boxing doesn’t have any respect.”
“I think if you’re really generous you could score it a draw. I think anything more than a draw, you’re a scumbag.”
Malignaggi went on to say that anybody who gave Haney seven rounds – including the swing rounds, of which there were many – is a ‘dirt scumbag’ who was rooting for the champion.
He pointed out that the live betting lines during the main event saw Lomachenko switch from underdog to favourite come the final round, believing the punters’ picks tell the story well enough.
The 42-year-old also claimed that Bob Arum, the promoter of the card, signed Haney up in a two-fight deal days prior to the bout. Malignaggi ended there, not quite reaching the accusation that isn’t hard to interpret.