Vasyl Lomachenko’s team files ‘biggest robbery’ appeal after controversial loss to Devin Haney

Controversial decision: Devin Haney edged out Vasyl Lomachenko on points in a fight many thought the challenger actually won (`)

Vasyl Lomachenko’s team have confirmed their intention to appeal and protest his controversial points loss to Devin Haney.

Lomachenko’s manager Egis Klimas was furious after his fighter’s unanimous loss in a hard-fought undisputed lightweight title fight on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Despite going into the fight as a clear underdog against the bigger, taller and stronger defending champion, the Ukrainian still put in a great performance in a gripping tactical bout in front of a fiercely pro-Lomachenko crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and made Life It was consistently extremely difficult for Haney.

Lomachenko was arguably better than his rival, landing more punches and certainly the flashier shots, and injuring Haney in round 11. The American prevailed decisively, however, and prevailed with two scorecards of 115-113 while the other ringside referee stopped the fight with 116 points scored -112 in Haney’s favour.

The result drew a roar of boos from the venue crowd, and other lightweight contenders such as Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia were among the boxers who publicly stated they believed Lomachenko had won the competition.

That view is no doubt shared by Lomachenko’s manager Klimas, who said at a post-fight press conference: “I’ll put it like it is — this is the biggest mid-day robbery.”

“For the other team, Christmas came in the summer. We won’t let it go. I guarantee we will protest, I guarantee we will appeal this decision.

“Because someone has to put an end to this injustice. Someone has to put boxing where it belongs. It has to be justice.

“These judges don’t understand how hard the fighters work when they score their absolutely insane points. Get robbed like that? It’s not acceptable.

“I guarantee we won’t let it go, we will appeal to the end. Maybe we won’t win, most likely we won’t, but we want to show that there must be justice.”

The story goes on

An emotional Lomachenko broke down in tears backstage after his third career loss and explained he had been reflecting on his young son’s disappointment.

“I controlled the fight,” he complained to reporters. “Each fight, I understand that I won the fight. So for me it’s a big surprise. 12 rounds and I was confident that I won this fight. But it is what it is.

“I controlled every lap. It’s a big, big question what happened to the result today.”

Haney, meanwhile, was convinced his game plan of consistently targeting Lomachenko’s body from the start gave him a deserved victory as he went unbeaten and moved up to 30-0 as a pro.

“The bodywork gave me the win tonight,” he said. “I knew I had to invest in this body. We watched a lot of videos about Loma and knew he wasn’t the biggest fan of body shots, so I stuck to the game plan.

“It broke him. I felt like he was fighting in spurts. He had some good moments during the lap but he didn’t finish the lap strong. I was definitely confident that I won the fight.

“I knew it was a close fight, of course he won rounds. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy fight. I had to walk through fire to win.”