*I’d like to begin this Ringside Update by going back to April of 1987 when then middleweight champion “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler was set to defend his undisputed titles against Sugar Ray Leonard at Ceasar’s Palace Las Vegas in what was promoted as “The Super Fight.” This event was also promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank Inc., and it went the full twelve rounds with both fighters literally going toe to toe. It ended in controversy as Leonard was awarded the decision and Hagler cried foul.
Well folks, it all happened again this past Saturday night when the undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney put his world titles on the line and battled against Vasyly Lomanchenko in a hotly contested match in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in front of a sold-out crowd in which we saw a young 24 year old going against a 34-year-old veteran.
I’ve got to be quite honest with you folks. As I sat in my press row seat throughout the bout I was on edge from round one through twelve as I witnessed a relentless Lomanchenko doing all that he could to win this fight and at times he looked like he was winning the fight. And don’t get me wrong folks, I really was cheering for my man Haney to end this in victory. This fight was going back and forth throughout and in the end, it looked to me like they were going to award it to the former champion Lomanchenko. And when the twelfth round ended I got up from my seat and didn’t want to wait to hear the ring announcer declare the winner because I thought in my mind they were going say that Haney had lost and as I got halfway out of the arena, I hear everyone shout “He Won!” and I said to myself “what happened?”
Well, here’s what happened, all three judges gave Devin Haney a unanimous decision win with two of them giving him a score of 115-113 and another scoring it 116-112.
It’s ironic that Dave Moretti is the same judge who scored the bout 116-112 and also scored the bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler that ended in controversy in Las Vegas. If nothing else, this fight should have been declared a draw and a rematch would give it some justice. Lomanchenko is a great fighter and so is Haney. They both deserve credit for putting up one of the greatest fights this year and my hat goes off to both guys. No matter what anyone has to say, at the end of the day “a win is a win” and Haney is STILL the undisputed world lightweight champion and again history repeats itself. Wait. Before we close, I just heard that Shakur Stevenson is calling out Haney. Folks, that would make for a GREAT fight, and don’t forget “Tank” Davis is out there licking his chops for a chance at Haney, too.
As I always say, we’ll see what happens.
Mohammed Mubarak and Muhammad Ali
Mohammed Mubarak can be reached at[email protected] for your comments. He has been around the sport of boxing since early 1982 when Roberto Duran fought Wilfred Benitez. He’s also a renowned artist. You can see his works at mubarakart.com or qmubarak06 on Instagram.
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