Vasyl Lomachenko cut a dejected figure in the ring when the judges awarded Devin Haney a unanimous points win in their battle for the undisputed lightweight world crown – but couldn’t keep a lid on his emotions when he soaked in the defeat in his dressing room afterwards.
The Ukrainian was captured on video breaking down in uncontrollable tears after the bout in Las Vegas on Saturday night, at one point covering his face with both hands while he rocked back and forth and sobbed.
It was a remarkable show of emotion from the 35-year-old, who is known for his ability to remain cool, calm and collected no matter what happens in the ring.
After 12 rounds of top-quality, back-and-forth action, the judges scored it 116-112 115-113 115-113 in favour of a delighted Haney – but Lomachenko lashed out at the scoring straight away.
Lomachenko was completely overwhelmed by emotion after his narrow loss to Haney
The future Hall of Famer couldn’t hold back his tears and was seen racked by sobs after refusing to discuss the judges’ decision before he left the ring
Asked for his opinion on the result before walking back to the locker room, he told the crowd at MGM Grand Garden Arena, ‘I don’t want to talk about this.
‘All the people see what happened today.
‘I think I showed I can be in the boxing and I’m in good shape. I can’t talk about the result right now it’s just not a comfortable moment for me right now but thank you everyone who came.’
He added: ‘Everything was in the rules. I thought he (Haney) would be better but he’s a tough fighter but he’s not the pound-for-pound fighter.
‘Right now, I want to go home and support my country and my Ukraine Orthodox church.’
Lomachenko out-punched his American rival, according to Compubox statistics, landing 124 shots to Haney’s 110, and throwing 314 power punches compared to 217.
The Ukrainian superstar had probably his best round of the fight in the 10th, when he appeared to hurt Haney with crisp punches
Compubox stats showed Lomachenko out-threw and out-landed the undisputed lightweight champion and many fans and experts were up in arms at the result
He was especially strong in rounds 10 and 11, when he appeared to hurt Haney with his famously fast and accurate punches.
However, outraged fans seized on the scoring of judge Dave Moretti, who scored the 10th round 10-9 for Haney and gave the American four of the last five rounds.
‘In what world is round 10 a Haney round?’ tweeted one fan.
‘Moretti needs to be investigated. This made me not want to watch boxing anymore,’ wrote another.
‘The 10th round was Loma’s most dominant round smh,’ added a third.
Famed fight coach Teddy Atlas wrote, ‘It’s confirmed Moretti gave Haney the 10th round, so now the omnipotent Commision there needs to act like Commission & investigate.’
Former world champ and title contender Shakur Stevenson said he thought Lomachenko won because he ‘landed the cleaner punches, the cleaner shots. He pushed the pace’.
And he wasn’t alone, with former UFC star Daniel Cormier simply tweeting ‘Boxing’ when he saw the result.
WBO featherweight world champion Robeisy Ramirez posted a picture of himself with Lomachenko and the caption, ‘This is just wrong. I’m incredibly disappointed. This man won tonight.’
Fight fans and experts the stature of famed fight trainer Teddy Atlas were incensed by the scoring of judge Dave Moretti (middle column, above) who gave the 10th round to Haney
Haney said a mega-fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will ‘happen sooner or later’ after defending his undisputed world title for a second time
In a press conference after the fight, Haney addressed who his next opponent could be. Stevenson is keen for a run at the belts but the undisputed champ seems to have someone else in mind.
‘Tank (Gervonta Davis) is a massive fight and it’s going to happen sooner or later,’ he said.
Haney (30-0, 15 KOs), 24, had unified all four major belts with a victory over Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. in June 2022 – something he successfully defended against the same opponent in October.
Lomachenko had won three consecutive fights heading into this clash.
The Ukrainian was keen to show he was not a fading force against the bright young star in Haney and he impressed throughout the bout, consistently hitting back whenever his opponent tried to gain momentum.
The American – who was vociferously booed by the crowd – seemed to be much more aggressive than usual as he had an increasingly open stance and tried to assert himself.
But Loma started quickly and his traditional fast hands and great footwork were on display as they continued to go back-and-forth.
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