Devin Haney’s most significant win of his career to date came at a cost.
The undisputed lightweight champion was issued a $25,000 fine for his actions during the weigh-in surrounding his May 20 win over Vasiliy Lomachenko at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Haney ended their obligatory staredown with a two-handed shove of the former three-division titlist, which at the time prompted the Nevada State Athletic Commission to withhold ten-percent of his reported $4,000,000 fight purse.
The commission unanimously voted to fine but not suspend the reigning champion during its monthly agenda hearing held Tuesday at state headquarters in Las Vegas. The balance of his purse—less $25,000 along with an additional $326 in attorney fees—to be released along with Tuesday’s ruling.
Haney defeated Lomachenko in their actual May 20 fight via unanimous decision to defend his fully unified lightweight championship. Judges Tim Cheatham (115-113), Dave Moretti (116-112) and David Sutherland (115-113) all scored for Haney in their ESPN Pay-Per-View headliner.
The outcome was met with criticism by some viewers as well as Lomachenko and his team. Haney responded in kind by referring to the Ukrainian southpaw as a “f—— sore loser.”
Haney revealed after the fight that the commission withheld $400,000 from his reported purse, which he revealed in the same tweet where he chastised Lomachenko.
“Get this [privileged] sore loser out of boxing,” Haney said of his longtime divisional rival. “[He] makes excuses as he goes! Take your [loss] like a man & stop crying.
“it was set up for you to win for the 3rd time in your career & you failed! Tell the commission give me my 400k back for that push.”
The commission has, in fact, done just that—less $25,326.
Haney (30-0, 15KOs) became the first male athlete to make at least two successful defenses of an undisputed championship reign in the four-belt era. The Las Vegas-based boxer fully unified the division in a dominant twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Australia’s then-unbeaten lineal, WBA, IBF and WBO champ George Kambosos Jr. last June 5 in Melbourne. Haney repeated the feat in their rematch last October.
Kambosos claimed the belts from Teofimo Lopez, who won the WBA and WBO belts from Lomachenko in their October 2020 unification clash in Las Vegas. Lomachenko also held—and lost—the WBC ‘Franchise’ title, a status he was granted in October 2019 in lieu of having to make a mandatory defense versus Haney, who was upgraded to full titleholder from his interim title status.
Haney will not face any further disciplinary action from the aforementioned incident. It was widely speculated that he will soon move up to the junior welterweight division. His team and defending WBC junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis have teased the possibility of a head-on collision later this year, though for now remains limited to loose talk.
By Jake Donovan