Devin Haney won over the judges on Saturday night, but might have more work to do when it comes to winning in the court of public opinion.
After 12 suspenseful rounds of technical boxing, Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) to retain his undisputed lightweight champion status as well as his undefeated record. It was touch and go throughout, but Haney emerged victorious via scores of 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113.
As is often the case with high-stakes boxing bouts between evenly matched contenders, there was immediate skepticism over the scoring and several notable names chimed in on social media to question the judging.
Combat sports personality Dillon Danis stated plainly that “Lomachenko was robbed,” while Bellator commentator Josh Thomson took the criticism a step further, writing that “This is why people don’t watch boxing anymore.”
See more of the best social media reactions below.
Boxing — Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 21, 2023
Lomachenko was robbed — Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) May 21, 2023
Wow. I thought Loma won this fight #LomaHaney — John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) May 21, 2023
Hmm.. Haney scraped that #HaneyLoma — JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) May 21, 2023
This is why people don’t watch boxing anymore. Building the young guy over the guy who actually won. #boxingisdead — Josh Thomson (@THEREALPUNK) May 21, 2023
They aren’t gonna let Loma get this decision even though he’s Winning IMO — James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) May 21, 2023
Man great fight gotta run it back — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 21, 2023
Haney & Loma. What a great fight — Lando Vannata (@GroovyLando) May 21, 2023
That was the best boxing fight I’ve seen in a long time!!! Loma pulls out the win late I think! — Deron Winn (@DeronWinn) May 21, 2023
‘This is why people don’t watch boxing anymore’: Pros react to Devin Haney’s controversial win over Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Advertisment - 