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Following his razor thin and somewhat contested decision loss to Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko has made steps to try and ensure that he gets an immediate rematch.
Lomachenko’s team has sent letters to each of the sanctioning bodies, looking to be instilled as the #1 contender and mandatory challenger for all the major titles the undisputed champion currently holds.
Vasiliy Lomachenko’s team issues letters to sanctioning bodies
They sent essentially the same letter to the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA, then posted it online as well. Here’s a snippet from one of those letters:
“This past Saturday in Las Vegas, Vasiliy Lomachenko challenged Undisputed Lightweight Champion Devin Haney in Las Vegas. The crowd at the MGM and the boxing world reacted to condemn what it believes to be an unfair and unjust decision that denied Loma his rightful victory and his lifetime goal of being undisputed champion of the world,” Lomachenko’s manager Egis Klimas wrote.
“As Team Loma prepares an appeal of the decision, and in light of the highly controversial outcome of the bout, on behalf of Vasiliy Lomachenko, I ask that the IBF keep Loma as the #1 and recognize him as the mandatory contender for the title in the Lightweight Division. Loma was denied his victory in the ring on Saturday, and he deserves the opportunity to remain in place as #1 and to get another chance at realizing his goals as soon as possible.”
Devin Haney reacts, reveals huge fine
Haney has since responded, calling Lomachenko a privileged “sore loser.”
In that tweet, Haney also revealed that he has been fined by the athletic commissions $400,000 for his pre-fight shove against Lomachenko.
$400,000 sounds pretty steep, especially since those are closer to entire purses of many of his MMA counterparts, but to add context, that amount could “just” be a 10% fine on his purse, if what Eddie Hearn disclosed is accurate. As seen with similar previous incidents, Haney’s pretty reckless move could’ve had far worse repercussions for his career and his bank account.
The incident caused a second medical check up that Lomachenko had to pass, but luckily the fight pushed through.
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