Vasyl Lomachenko is in good shape as he prepares for his lightweight title challenge against Devin Haney on May 20th. Although he is giving away size to his opponent, Lomachenko has beaten bigger fighters in the past, and he appears to be fast of hand and light on his feet in training. Meanwhile, Haney may be struggling to make weight, which could give Lomachenko an advantage in the fight. While Haney is viewed by many fans as having a size advantage, the weight-making process could drain him and affect his performance.
Chris Algieri has suggested that this could be the last time Haney fights at 135 because he has become too big for the division. To defend his titles, he is likely cutting a lot of weight, which could be draining. In contrast, Lomachenko is not cutting any weight, so he is likely to look fresher at the weigh-in and during the bout. Although Haney is young and has not been in any wars, Lomachenko has a reputation for seeking out scrapes and could make the fight more physical than Haney is used to.
There has been some discussion about the different paths that Lomachenko and Haney have taken to arrive at this point. Lomachenko has fought everyone, while Haney was in denial a few years ago when he thought Lomachenko had ducked him for Teofimo Lopez. However, at that point in time, Lopez was a much tougher fight on paper, and everyone would have picked Haney instead. This highlights the importance of fighting the right opponents to build a career and reputation in boxing.
In summary, Lomachenko is looking good in his preparations for his title challenge against Haney, who may be struggling to make weight. Although Haney is viewed by some as having an advantage due to his size, the weight-cutting process may affect his performance. The fighters have taken different paths to arrive at this point, with Lomachenko fighting everyone and Haney recovering from a denial that Lomachenko had ducked him.
