Haney is too big a task for ageing Loma

VASYL LOMACHENKO versus Devin Haney, should negotiations deliver a fight early next year, could be a watershed for both.

Haney can no longer make the lightweight limit comfortably and Loma is spent against the best at 135lb, a division that has always been a stretch for him.

Super featherweight or even feather is Lomachenko’s natural habitat. But the money in this period has been at 135.

Haney was at the Jamaine Ortiz fight (above) at Madison Square Garden a fortnight ago and saw a slower, hittable, beatable Loma. Though Loma got the decision, the margin of victory was far closer than the scores suggested.

Loma was dwarfed by Ortiz. It looked like a different weight division. At his formidable best Loma’s multi-faceted skills allowed him to prosper against much bigger men.

He was so good with a bag of tricks that proved hard for his opponents to fathom.

No one can escape the attentions of time. Teofimo Lopez, another huge lightweight, showed two years ago age was catching up with Loma, exposing the first signs of decline. He has recorded three wins since but not without suffering the effects of wear and tear.

At 34 he is finishing fights bruised about the eyes. Shots are hurting.

Haney is naturally quick. He outboxed George Kambosos twice, and in Australia too (above). He uses his speed to take an opponent’s strengths away, in and out, peppering them with combinations.

Loma’s asset was always his speed. That has diminished. He knows it, and is not comfortable against guys quicker than him.

He won’t be able to outpace Haney or outfox him, but his awkward angles and feints will still present a problem.

Peak Loma would beat Haney. Those phenomenal feet and that movement would have had him seen him home. But not now.

Haney is a big unit and will be boiled into the weight. By the time they enter the ring the difference could be as much as a stone, just as it was with Lopez, who was more like a welterweight when the first bell went.

I think Loma should have stepped down to super featherweight after that Lopez defeat, if not retired. I stopped at 28 and I didn’t have 400 amateur bouts under my belt.

I felt my skills were diminishing. I could not reach the same intensity. Loma is a freak of course, but the clock is ticking.

I think that realisation will be rammed home by the fast fists of Haney.