By Anthony “Zute’ George – ‘He is the best fighter I have ever seen.’ ‘He is better than Willie Pep.’ Indeed, these were statements made about Vasiliy Lomachenko. Statements made by people older than me. Some may say much older. I would also admit that these statements were made by men who know much more about boxing than I do. There is no question that when it comes to Loma, hyperbolic statements run rampant.

Of course, there is a Neil McCauley side of the Loma hyperbole. Whether it is because he lost his first fight, has less than twenty fights, or was knocked down a time or two,  social media is saturated with comments about Vasiliy being garbage. Anyone who is a fan of the Ukrainian southpaw also runs the risk of being called a Lomasexual. 

Boxing fans say the darndest things. 

So, how can there be such a split on the consensus of Loma? A better question is, which hyperbole is closest to the truth? I would say the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

If you are going to be realistic about it, he is nowhere close to being the greatest fighter of all time but is far from garbage.

Loma’s last fight is an excellent representation of this assessment. While his 12-round grinder against Jamaine Ortiz will not garner any votes for the performance of the year, there is no denying the offensive prowess showcased from the middle rounds on can only be equaled by a select few in boxing today.    

What also makes Lomachenko a vital cog in the boxing circuit is that he creates buzz. Like it or not, very few boxers can out-trend Jake Paul these days. Loma’s scrap with Ortiz did just that.  

There is immediate intrigue about a showdown with four-belt Unified Lightweight King Devin Haney. It is a fight that should be easy to make—hanging fruit that boxing fans can take a mammoth bite out of.

Haney is one of the few pugilists in the weight class that can match the toolbox of VasiliyLomachenko. It is also a fight that both fighters need to boost their legacy and star power. Regardless of what side of the hyperbole you are on with Loma, it would be hard to argue that Teofimo Lopez was not the best fighter he faced, and that happened to be Loma’s worst performance. 

Haney is a younger, larger, world-class champion in the prime of his career. Undoubtedly, such a victory would be all the fuel the ‘best fighter of all-time’ camp would need. It would probably even humble the ‘garbage’ side of the coin.

Who am I kidding? No, it would not. All they would say is nonsense like, ‘Haney ain’t ****. 

But who cares what the hyperbolics of the world spew? All that matter for people in the middle, like myself, is that we get the fights that matter. 

Haney vs. Lomachenko is an essential fight for 2023.

Evidently, Lomachenko will have to agree to all of Haney’s hefty demands. The Dream has made it known that since he conceded to all of George Kambosos’ hefty demands, it is now his turn to set the table with all his utensils and home cooking. The funny thing is that it was Vasiliy who first conceded to the demands of Kambosos, the lightweight king at the time.

The moral of the story,  it is easy to give in to demands when a George Kambosos is on the other side of the ring.

Oh, I kid, George Kambosos. He is nothing but good for the sport of boxing.

From the look at how massive Haney appeared Saturday night, he will not get much home cooking until the day of the fight. Nevertheless, Haney is right. He has earned the right to dictate what’s what for boxing fans to see this fight.

Will we see it?

Will Loma be the undisputed lightweight? As he so dreams. 

Can Haney make lightweight once again?

Stay tuned…

Twitter @zutesboxingtalk