Devin Haney To Put Up Unblemished Record, Belts Against Vasiliy Lomachenko In May

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney will finally step between the ropes against division great Vasiliy Lomachenko on May 20, and it is a fight that has been years in the making.

Following Lomachenko's win over Luke Campbell in August 2019, the pair was set for a collision course as Haney claimed the WBC interim belt over Zaur Abdullaev the following month.

However, that bout fell through when Lomachenko was named WBC "franchise champion" which effectively stripped him of the lineal belt, while Haney was elevated to full champion status–making the Ukrainian the second-only fighter to be given the honor since Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Haney would hit the headlines in 2020 when he was criticized for making racist comments against Lomachenko in an interview, claiming that he would win 10 out of 10 times when he faces a "white boy."

This forced "The Dream" to defend himself on Twitter and would go on to win against Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2020, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz in 2021 before becoming the undisputed lightweight king in June 2022.

George Kambosos Jr. sought to defend the WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring titles against Haney, but he was soundly outclassed by the California native en route to a unanimous decision victory and did the same thing in their rematch in October.

As for Lomachenko, the Ukrainian lightweight remains one of the biggest names in the sport despite starting his pro career in 2013 and declared in December 2021 that he was willing to fight Kambosos in his home country of Australia.

However, Russia's invasion of Ukaine forced Lomachenko to answer the call of duty to aid in the war effort, and while he was given special permission for the big-money fight, he opted to stay which effectively scrapped all plans of him facing Kambosos.

"The Matrix" would see his first loss in six years when he fought Teofirmo Lopez, but he bounced back to pick up a TKO win over Masayoshi Nakatani and decisive victories over Richard Commey and Jamaine Ortiz in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

With their long history now finally coming to reality later this year, Lomachenko has an opportunity to firmly establish himself in the annals of boxing history–should he defeat Haney.

Haney will have the benefit of youth on his side as he is 11 years younger than Lomachenko who, at 35, is entering the final stages of his career.

Aside from the age gap, Lomachenko will need to find a way through Haney's 71-inch reach throughout the 12-round affair.

May 20 will determine whether Lomachenko has enough left in the tank to join heavyweight king and fellow Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk atop the boxing world.