FIGHT WEEK
Devin Haney is scheduled to defend his undisputed 135-pound championship towards Vasiliy Lomachenko, the most important combat of Haney’s profession and an opportunity for Lomachenko to regain misplaced glory. Additionally, within the U.Okay., Katie Taylor will problem 140-pound champ Chantelle Cameron.
DEVIN HANEY (29-0, 15 KOS)
VS. VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-2, 11 KOS)
When: Saturday, Might 20
Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (primary occasion later in present)
The place: MGM Grand, Las Vegas
TV/Stream: Pay-per-view
Division: Light-weight (135 kilos)
At stake: Haney’s undisputed championship
Pound-for-pound rating: Lomachenko No. 11, Haney No. 15
Odds: Haney 2½-1 favourite (common of a number of shops)
Additionally on the cardboard: Oscar Valdez vs. Adam Lopez, rematch, junior lightweights; Junto Nakatani vs. Andrew Moloney, junior bantamweights (for vacant WBO title); Raymond Muratalla vs. Jeremia Nakathila, lightweights; Nico Ali Walsh vs. TBA, middleweights
Prediction: Haney SD
Background: Haney isn’t essentially the most effective 135-pounder on the planet however he has all of the titles, which he took from George Kambosos by a one-sided unanimous resolution final June after which efficiently defended by related scoring in a rematch in October. The slick 24-year-old defeated in succession Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz Jr. – all by resolution – to arrange the primary Kambosos combat and set up him as one of many prime younger fighters on the planet. Now comes the most important problem of his profession, no less than on paper. Lomachenko, one of many biggest newbie fighters of ever, turned a three-division skilled champion after solely 12 fights and finally climbed to the highest of many pound-for-pound lists. Then got here catastrophe, a unanimous resolution loss to Teofimo Lopez that value him three light-weight titles and broken his popularity. The Ukrainian entered that combat with a nagging shoulder damage however was nonetheless compelled to rebuild. He has received three consecutive fights since his setback, the final one (in October) a transparent resolution over Jamaine Ortiz throughout his nation’s conflict with Russia. Now Lomachenko, 35, has an opportunity to regain what he misplaced in one of many greatest fights of the 12 months.
Â
CHANTELLE CAMERON (17-0, 8 KOs)
VS. KATIE TAYLOR (22-0, 6 KOS)
When: Saturday, Might 20
Time: 3 p.m. ET / midday PT (primary occasion later in present)
The place: 3 Enviornment, Dublin, Eire
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Junior welterweights (140 kilos)
At stake: Cameron’s undisputed championship
Odds: Taylor 1½-1 favourite (common of a number of shops)
Additionally on the cardboard: Terri Harper vs. Cecilia Braekhus, junior middleweights (for Harper’s WBA title); Dennis Hogan vs. James Metcalf, junior middleweights; Gary Cully vs. Jose Felix, lightweights
Prediction: Taylor UD
Background: Taylor, arguably the face of girls’s boxing, can be combating because the challenger for under the second time in her profession. The 2012 Olympic champion from Eire received her first skilled title when she outpointed Anahi Ester Sanchez for a vacant 135-pound title in October 2017 and has efficiently defended 13 occasions, including three different belts alongside the best way. She additionally received a 140-pound belt when she defeated then-140-pound champ Christina Linardatou in 2019, after which she vacated her title. Cameron, from the U.Okay., received her first title when she stopped Melissa Hernandez in 5 rounds in Might 2021. She has efficiently defended thrice, together with a detailed, however unanimous resolution victory over Jessica McCaskill to win all 4 main junior welterweight titles in November. This is perhaps the most important combat within the careers of each boxers. A victory over the good Taylor would enable Cameron to hitch Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano on the prime of the ladies’s boxing world. If Taylor wins, she’ll change into solely the second lady to change into undisputed champion in a second division. Shields was the primary.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
Otar Eranosyan vs. Edy Valencia Mercado, junior lightweights, Plant Metropolis, Florida (ProBox TV)
SUNDAY
Lucas Bahdi vs. Jesus Amparan, lightweights, Niagara Falls, Canada (DAZN)
