By Mark Eisner: Devin Haney will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO & Ring Magazine lightweights tonight on ESPN+ PPV against Vasyl Lomachenko at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. The main pay-per-view portion of the Haney vs. Lomachenko card starts at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The preliminary part of the card begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Boxing News 24 will be giving live updates & results below.
In the chief support, super featherweight contender Oscar Valdez (30-1, 23 KO) meets Adam Lopez (16-4, 6 KO) in a rematch scheduled for ten rounds on the ESPN PPV portion of the card.
Main Card @ 10:00 pm ET
Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko
Oscar Valdez vs. Adam Lopez
Raymond Muratalla vs. Jeremia Nakathila
ESPN & ESPN+ @ 8:00 pm ET)
Andrew Moloney vs. Junto Nakatani
Nico Ali Walsh vs. Danny Rosenberger
ESPN+ @ 6:00 pm ET
Amari Jones vs. Pachino Hill
Floyd Diaz vs. Luis Fernando Saavedra
Abdullah Mason vs. Desmond Lyons
Emiliano Vargas vs. Rafael Jasso
Valdez vs. Lopez II is a fight that arguably doesn’t deserve to be the co-feature on a pay-per-view card.
Top Rank is likely counting on boxing fans being eager to watch the popular former two-division world champion Oscar fight, even if it’s not against a contender or champion.
Valdez, 32, lost his last fight, so he must get a confidence booster before taking on WBO 130-lb champion Emanuel Navarrete.
It would be a bad sign if Valdez labor to bear Lopez tonight because this is the kind of guy he needs to dominate to be taken seriously as a threat to beating Navarrete.
Max Kellerman: “Devin Haney has come off to me to be mature beyond his years in the last couple of weeks,” Kellerman said on Max on Boxing. “The way he comports himself and to the core, he seems confident.”
Andre Ward: “Two weeks ago, when I went to talk to him, that was my takeaway, and when I spoke to him this week, that was my takeaway.
“Devin Haney is carrying himself like an undisputed champion. He doesn’t seem too high, and he doesn’t seem too unconfident. When he speaks, I believe him, and with Lomachenko, he’s the old wily veteran who has been humbled a little bit by the game, the loss, the layoff, and the reaction to losing from fans and media.
“His ego seems to be tamed. He seems like the old wise one, who’s walking around knowing something that we don’t.”
Kellerman: “Exactly. It seems like Lomachenko is sitting there like, ‘Okay, I’m a two-and-a-half to-one dog. Okay, we’ll see.’”
Tim Bradley: “A few weeks ago, we had an appetizer. We had Tank Davis and Ryan Garcia. They were fighting for bragging rights, but this week, we have the main course meals.
“You have two fighters in their prime. Lomachenko and Devin Haney for the undisputed championship of the world. It doesn’t get any better than this. This right here is what legacies are built on and how you get to the Hall of Fame.”
Kellerman: “Both guys and their fathers have conducted business for their son’s fights as if they have their eye for their legacies. They both want to leave their mark, and fights like this do it.
“He’s [Haney] prepping the referee on fight to where the inside seems to be Lomachenko’s distance compared to the long-armed Haney.”
Bradley: “He’s trying to get to the ref, but he’s worried about Lomachenko getting to the inside because that’s what Haney does. He ties you up. If he’s not allowed to tie you up and break cleanly, if Lomachenko comes at him, he could be in some trouble.
“I think he’s making the ref aware so he can have somewhat of an advantage on the inside.”
Andre Ward: “That’s the most intimate form of combat [fighting on the inside] in the boxing space. It’s one thing when you’re at range, but when you’re forehead to forehead, nose to nose, most guys, even decorated champions, they don’t want to be there because they haven’t been taught how to be there.
“With Loma, I don’t think Loma is dirty fighter. I just think when Loma has a free hand, he’s going to use it. Anywhere on the side of your face, your chin, your temple, it’s free game.
“In fact, the referee will tell you to punch your way out of a clinch. Use your free hand. I don’t like the fact that Haney is speaking out against it. I don’t mind Bill, the trainer, and father speaking out against it.
“Play both sides. Get ahead of the story. Sew seeds into the mind of the referee so he’s overactive to what Loma is doing, But in terms of Haney, if you don’t like something that Loma is doing, do something about it. Make him stop.”
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