BOXING
Stevenson says Haney needs to rematch Lomachenko
Former two-weight class champion Shakur Stevenson said that Devin Haney should fight Vasiliy Lomachenko again after his controversial decision win on May 20.
Devin Haney knew that his bout with Vasiliy Lomachenko would be the biggest challenge of his young career, but he would probably never imagine that the outcome of the fight would give him so many headaches.
The Dream got his hand raised at the end of the 12th round via unanimous decision, defending successfully his four lightweight belts, but many fans and boxing pundits saw the former two-time Olympic gold medalist win the fight.
Haney insists he was the better man, and some people agree on that or believe it should have been called a draw, but big names in the world of boxing stated that Lomachenko outpointed Haney at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
After the fight, Lomachenko’s manager, Egis Klimas, said that it was “the biggest robbery in the daylight. Haney’s team got Christmas in the Summer”, and admitted that they were planning on appealing the decision.
Stevenson says there should be a rematch
After the decision was announced, boxing star Shakur Stevenson got into the ring to promote himself as Haney’s next opponent for the lightweight crown, a fight that would attract the attention of the whole boxing community.
However, even if he’s willing to face his fellow countryman, Stevenson admitted that Haney should offer Lomachenko the rematch.
“If I was in his shoes, I would for sure run it back. Because I wouldn’t want the public to judge me off of that fight. I wouldn’t want them to think that this dude beat me”, he said.
“Because that’s gonna travel with him throughout the rest of his career. Like if Floyd [Mayweather] never rematched [Jose Luis] Castillo, I think it would’ve traveled with Floyd throughout his career”, Stevenson added.
Like Stevenson, most people believe that Haney’s best way to prove he’s the real deal should be offering Loma an immediate rematch, but after his victory, the American champion has the chance of picking among quite a few fighters and he may prefer to take an easier fight for now.