The Sweet Inexact Science: Haney v. Lomachenko PPV Boxing

Haney v. Lomachenko PPV Boxing Notes.  The sweet science is an inexact science.  I wanted Lomachenko to win.  And, I’m burying the lead.

However, it is rather interesting to see the seven steps of grief timeline.

The ESPN portion of the broadcast

Nico Ali Walsh v. Danny Rosenberger

Frankly, I thought Rosenberger won despite being a fan of the well-spoken Nico.  Rosenberger was active with excellent defense.  His fundamentals were that of a gym rat and, apparently, he is the part owner of the gym.  You have to love his nickname, Feel Good Hollywood.  Or at least feel good about it.  This fight went the scheduled eight rounds and was a draw.

Junto Nakatani v. Andrew Moloney

I wanted them to stop this Junior Bantamweight World Championship fight earlier.  I always call for early stoppages and I am rarely wrong on it.  I thought it was fairly apparent that Moloney was out of it and did not appear to be processing instructions given to him in his corner.  Then came the inevitable massive KO punch by Nakatani in the 11th.  The announcers said it sounded like a shotgun.  Why don’t you just shoot the guy instead?  Maloney laid on the canvas without much movement for quite some time while announcer, Joe Tessitore, demanded that medical personnel get to him.  He finally got up, worse for the wear.  Nakatani is one to watch with elite tools at his disposal.  Speed, quickness, power, and reach are all in the Japanese banger’s arsenal.

The PPV portion of the night

Raymond Muratalla v. Jeremia Nakathila

Round two KO for Muratalla as the referee waived-off further punishment of Nakathila, a policeman from Namibia.  Here, I thought this was stopped too soon, but the replays showed otherwise.  I was impressed with the humble and businesslike approach of Muratalla.  Afterwards, he called out the big boys in the lightweight division.  He wants to move-up to a huge fight fast.

Oscar Valdez v. Adam Lopez

Although Valdez dominated this junior lightweight fight which went the distance, I was impressed with Lopez.  The announcers said he was hitting with little brother punches compared to Valdez.  But, oh boy, does Lopez have style.  His slick defense and unusual angles to launch shots from was quite interesting to watch.  Valdez cruised to the decision.  I remember seeing him fight before and was impressed with his presentation in interviews.  Then I saw he was from Nogales, Mexico, right across the so-called border from Nogales, Arizona.  Valdez could easily be mistaken for a smooth-talking corporate VP.

It is rather interesting that all these guys above were well-spoken, humble, intelligent, business-like young men.  I think they have to work too hard, focusing on their craft, to have been caught-up in some of the hysterics that have ensnared some of their youthful compatriots.  Good.

The Main Event of the PPV

Devin Haney v. Vassiliy Lomachenko

I was very concerned from jump with all the slobbering over Haney and, in particular, calling him King.  This thing was ripe for home cooking shenanigans in Haney’s adopted hometown of Las Vegas.  It had all the same potential problems that befell Canelo v. GGG I and II.  Can an Eastern European have a fair chance against a potential cash cow from the USA or Mexico?  Ultimately, these fights are judgment calls and often very close to call if someone does not take care of business to take it out of the hands of the judges.  However you cut it, Kingmaking, and the massive influx of cash it generates, courts corruption.  Does the fair heart of boxing sometimes look the other way?  The Marquis of Queensberry wants to know.

The decision came down unanimously for Haney 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.  He defended his Undisputed Lightweight Champion credentials and hoisted the four belts again.  Cue the howling hue and cry of the aggrieved.  That went on for the rest of the broadcast and basically all night on social media. Both ESPN PPV analysts who scored the fight had it for Loma.  The crowd booed loudly.  Shakur Stevenson, the then number four-ranked lightweight, and someone with a potential dog in the fight, said Loma won.  In my view, Loma dominated the second half of the fight.  The Compubox numbers shown on the PPV were in Loma’s favor. Loma had a huge 11th round.

Tim Bradley, one of the crew of analysts on the fight said he feels badly for what Haney will go through considering the fans will think he is a fake champion and that the real undisputed lightweight champion is Loma.

Twitter was massively lopsided for Loma.  Of the twenty or more scorecards I saw filled out by fans, only one had Haney the winner. Teddy Atlas, an American treasure, went off on lots of things and said Loma won.  Fernando Vargas, well-loved, tough-guy, former pugilist, said Loma won. There were calls here and there for a protest and investigation.

Top Rank boss, Bob Arum, said in the post-fight presser for Loma that he could not comment as promoter, but that the neutral people around him at the fight all thought Loma won.  He also commented on the Nevada commission having all three judges from the USA, that it is not done that way in the rest of the world, and that they didn’t change one of the judges on a Loma camp protest when this is usually granted.

Arum also said he does not know why this same judge scored the 10th round for Haney when the other two judges had it for Loma.  This 10th round was the focus of all sorts of complaining and agitation from experts and fans.

Two random polls I saw on twitter with over 100 votes and over 150 votes, respectively, had Loma winning by agreement of 85 and 86 percent of the voters, respectively.

Perhaps the most telling bit of data was the reported live betting odds shifting dramatically from Haney at the beginning of the fight to Loma near the end of the fight.

I was left in a state of disgust and disappointment.  Therefore, I decided to score the fight myself on the replay with the sound off.   Furthermore, to counter my bias for Loma, I would give any round that was too close to call to Haney.  My result ended up a draw. There were many rounds that were too close to call.  I will also admit that a couple of rounds I scored for Loma were affected by my seeing the highlights and Compubox stats thereafter.  One of these was the aforementioned controversial 10th.  Everyone is saying that was Loma’s and bawling the judge out over his giving it to Haney.  But, if I remember correctly, that round had Loma landing 10 punches and Haney landing 5.  Just a few discrepancies, moments of inattention, and judgments that some punches were better than others could cause that round to go either way.  Go ahead and blast me, but even though that round is sticking in the craw of everyone’s mug, I see it as inconclusive.

The 11th round was a different story.  Loma dominated this round hugely, and in my view, this was the only round clearly dominated by either fighter.  Thus, if you give this round to Loma and every other round is a draw, it basically gives the fight to Loma.  I know this is not how boxing is scored.  And I will not show you my scorecard … it is a disaster.

Dan Rafael, top boxing scribe, was adamant it was not a robbery and he had it a draw.  He said because two judges had it for Haney by one round only, the fight could have gone either way.  He also said the 10th was Loma’s and the one judge blew that as well as his 116-112 scorecard.

This fight was hard to referee.  Man, it was physical.  There were a number football plays.  Lots of clenching and body contact.  The announcers said that the referee warned Haney two times for rabbit punches to the back of the head.  They said this could draw a one-point deduction.  I saw the referee warn on this twice during the replay.  There was no point deduction.  Later, he warned Haney regarding an elbow.  I did not see Loma warned on anything, but I admit bias.  The referee, Harvey Dock, brought in from the northeast USA, did a very good job with a very tough fight to referee.

This was a very hard fight to judge because it was so close. When I watched the replay, I noticed my eyes were drawn to Haney even though I was a Loma homer.  I think this is because he was the bigger-looking guy.  Did this create a focus on Haney and a bias towards him?  My PPV perspective was from above.  From the perspective of the judges looking up at ringside, Haney may have looked like Goliath.

Loma pressed the action, moving forward all night, and had the best combos.  Haney created distance with his reach and had the best power shots to the body.  These different styles made the fight, as they say, and they also made the judging difficult.

All in all, it was a great, thrilling, exciting, intense, action-packed fight.  And on that scorecard, everyone is a winner.