Looking ahead to Devin Haney’s undisputed lightweight title defence against Vasiliy Lomachenko, Roy Jones Jr has highlighted a key advantage for the champion.
The pair will face off on May 20 in Las Vegas, with Haney making the second defence of his status as the 135lb king. For Lomachenko, it’s a crack at a longterm goal that, at 35-years-old, may not come around again.
In a video shared by Athlete Central, Jones praised both men before putting the fight into simple terms.
“Loma’s a technical fighter and he’s one of my favourites – he’s gonna always be one of my favourites. So is Haney. But what I do like about the fight for Haney is that it’s gonna be size versus experience.”
The four-weight world champion notes that Haney is big for the division whilst ‘Loma’ is at the other end of the scale.
He points to the two losses on the Ukrainian’s record – Orlando Salido in 2014 and Teofimo Lopez in 2020 – as key examples of him struggling with size.
“Haney’s gonna be the bigger fighter, and Lopez showed that the bigger fighter’s gonna give Loma a problem. That’s how Loma got his first loss with a bigger fighter – the guy didn’t make weight and he beat him.”
“We know that Loma’s blueprint [to beating him] is being the bigger guy. Haney’s definitely a bigger guy, who also can box.”
Haney isn’t only big for the weight, he’s tight at it. Many recognise this as one of his last fights at 135lb before moving up to super lightweight.
Making the cut didn’t seem to hinder him in his two fights against George Kambosos Jr, though, and he’ll be convinced it will play out that way against Lomachenko.
The fight puts an abundance of talent in the ring, and fans are split on whether it will be the Ukrainian’s crowning glory or an official passing of the torch in the lightweight division