ESPN.com7 minute reading
Devin Haney’s undefeated record stands in a stunning decision win
Devin Haney improves to 30-0 with an incredible victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in Las Vegas.
In one of the most anticipated fights of the year, Devin Haney defended his undisputed lightweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in Las Vegas.
Haney (30-0, 15KOs), ESPN’s Best Under-25 Fighter of 2022, won by scorecards of 115-113 (Tim Cheatham), 115-113 (David Sutherland) and 116-112 (Dave Moretti). Moretti’s scorecard left fans, some members of the media and Lomachenko’s team with some questions. Moretti was the only referee to give Haney the 10th round, a round in which Haney landed just five punches and appeared to be dominated by Lomachenko. That, in addition to the fact that Lomachenko took control for much of the fight, led some of our panelists to keep Haney in his spot or even move him down.
“I dropped Devin Haney off my pound-for-pound list even in a win because in my eyes — and in the eyes of a lot of other people — it felt like Vasiliy Lomachenko won that fight,” Michael Rothstein said. “It was a close enough fight where Haney rarely seemed in control and it doesn’t feel right to keep Haney in my top 10 after a fight I think he lost.”
Regardless of which side of the decision you’re on, Haney has a win over a top fighter in Lomachenko, a former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and the current No. 2 ranked lightweight fighter by ESPN.
ESPN Deportes’ Salvador Rodriguez moved Haney up a spot on his list after what he said was an “epic fight for the fans, which could have gone either way.”
“A 115-113 for one or the other, or a 114-114 was within reach in my opinion,” Rodriguez said. “For me, the win cemented Haney’s place as one of the top 10 fighters in the world. Beating a fighter of Lomachenko’s caliber would mean moving up a couple of spots, but even in victory, Haney didn’t do enough to impress me and place him in the top 5 or higher, so my vote as #9. But at 24 years old and with an undefeated record, he’s on his way to the top. I still think Gervonta Davis is the best current fighter at 135 pounds … and watch out for Shakur Stevenson, who’s coming to clean them all up at the end of this year or next.”
Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Ben Baby, Timothy Bradley Jr., Rothstein, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Andre Ward, Eric Raskin, Crystina Poncher, Michelle Joy Phelps, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Pilatti, Claudia Trejos, Charles Moynihan, Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro and Aladdin Freeman share their voices.
More rankings: Division rankings and ESPN’s pound-for-pound women’s rankings.
Note: Results are up to and including May 24.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 39-0, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO6) David Avanesyan, Dec. 10
NEXT MATCH: July 29 vs. Errol Spence Jr.
2. NAOYA INOUE Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 23-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Junior Featherweight
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO11) Paul Butler, Dec. 13
NEXT MATCH: July 25 against Stephen Fulton
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous position: No. 3
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (United Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (SD12) Anthony Joshua, 20 August
NEXT MATCH: TBA
4. ERROL SPENCE JR. Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 28-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO10) Yordenis Ugas, April 16
NEXT MATCH: July 29 vs. Terence Crawford
5. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 59-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super Middleweight (Undisputed Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (UD12) John Ryder, 6 May
NEXT MATCH: TBA
6. DMITRY BIVOL Previous position: No. 6
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light Heavyweight (Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, November 5
NEXT MATCH: TBA
7. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 33-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO10) Derek Chisora, Dec 3
NEXT MATCH: TBA
8. ARTUR BETERBIEV Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 19-0, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Light Heavyweight (Unified Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28
NEXT MATCH: TBA
9. DEVIN HANEY Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 30-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (Undisputed Champion)
LAST MATCHES: W (UD12) Vasiliy Lomachenko, 20 May
NEXT MATCH: TBA
10. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 20-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST MATCHES: W (TKO6) Shuichiro Yoshino, April 8
NEXT MATCH: TBA
The formula
The ranking is based on a descending point system, where a first place gets 10 points, a second place gets nine points and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking and then the one with the most votes on that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Gervonta Davis (35), Vasiliy Lomachenko (3), Jermell Charlo (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Buffalo, 3. Inoue, 4. unwell, 5. Spence, 6. Rage, 7. Davis, 8. Lomachenko, 9. Alvarez, 10. Beterbiev
Bradley: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. unwell, 4. Buffalo, 5. Alvarez, 6. Spence, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Haney, 9. stevenson, 10. Davis
Coppings: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. unwell, 4. Rage, 5. Buffalo, 6. Alvarez, 7. Spence, 8. Haney, 9. stevenson, 10. Beterbiev
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. unwell, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Spence, 6. stevenson, 7. Buffalo, 8. Alvarez, 9. Rage, 10. Haney
Parkinson’s: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. unwell, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Buffalo, 6. Alvarez, 7. Davis, 8. Rage, 9. Haney, 10. Spence
Raskin: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Buffalo, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rage, 7. unwell, 8. stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Section: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. unwell, 5. Buffalo, 6. Alvarez, 7. Haney, 8. stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Baby: 1. Inoue, 2. unwell, 3. Crawford, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Haney, 8. Buffalo, 9. stevenson, 10. Rage
Rothstein: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Rage, 4. Buffalo, 5. Alvarez, 6. unwell, 7. Spence, 8. Davis, 9. stevenson, 10. Beterbiev
Phelps: 1. Alvarez, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. unwell, 5. Haney, 6. Rage 7. Inoue, 8. Buffalo, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Osuna: 1. unwell, 2. Inoue, 3. Buffalo, 4. Alvarez, 5. Crawford, 6. Spence, 7. Haney, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Charlo, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Rage, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. unwell, 7. Buffalo, 8. Davis, 9. Haney, 10. Beterbiev
Punches: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. unwell, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rage, 7. Buffalo, 8. Beterbiev, 9. stevenson, 10. Haney
Trejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. unwell, 4. Buffalo, 5. Spence, 6. Rage, 7. Alvarez, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Stevenson
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Rage, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Haney, 7. Inoue, 8. unwell, 9. stevenson, 10. Bivol
Dansby: 1. unwell, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Rage, 7. Haney, 8. Buffalo, 9. stevenson, 10. Davis
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Rage, 6. unwell, 7. Buffalo, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Buffalo, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Rage, 7. unwell, 8. Davis, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Spence, 5. Rage, 6. unwell, 7. stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Buffalo, 10. Haney
Mascara: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. unwell, 5. stevenson, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Buffalo, 8. Gervonta, 9. Haney, 10. Alvarez
Free man: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. unwell, 4. Buffalo, 5. stevenson, 6. Spence, 7. Alvarez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Davis, 10. Haney
ESPN’s expert poll
First place: Inoue (10), Crawford (8), Usyk (2), Alvarez (1)
Second place: Crawford (9), Inoue (6), Spence (2), Bivol (2), Usyk (1), Fury (1)
Third place: Usyk (7), Spence (4), Inoue (3), Alvarez (2), Fury (2), Crawford (1), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1)
Fourth place: Bivol (5), Usyk (4), Alvarez (4), Spence (3), Crawford (2), Beterbiev (2), Fury (1)
Fifth place: Spence (6), Alvarez (5), Bivol (3), Fury (2), Stevenson (2), Crawford (1), Haney (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Fury (7), Usyk (4), Spence (3), Alvarez (3), Beterbiev (2), Haney (1), Stevenson (1)
Seventh place: Bivol (5), Haney (4), Inoue (2), Usyk (2), Spence (2), Alvarez (2), Davis (2), Beterbiev (1), Stevenson (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (4), Haney (4), Davis (4), Bivol (3), Stevenson (2), Usyk (1), Alvarez (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (7), Beterbiev (4), Haney (4), Davis (2), Alvarez (1), Bivol (1), Fury (1), Charlo (1)
10th place: Beterbiev (5), Davis (5), Haney (4), Stevenson (3), Spence (1), Alvarez (1), Bivol (1), Fury (1)
