Devin Haney

Devin Haney clarifies saying 'I will never lose to a white boy in my life' toward Lomachenko

2 min read

(Getty Images)

The 21-year-old boxing star wants people to know that he's simply chasing greatness.

Devin Haney fully expects a showdown with unified world lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko in the near future. After all, "The Dream" already predicted that he'd knock Loma out, when the two get around to fighting.

Speaking with 78SPORTSTV's YouTube channel recently, Haney upped the ante, vowing: "I can tell you this — I will never lose to a white boy in my life. I don't care what nobody got to say. Listen, can't no white boy beat me, I don't care, on any day of the week. I fight a white boy like 10 times, I'm gonna beat him 10 times."

The comment drew instant reaction from a wave of people, including perhaps another future Haney opponent in Ryan Garcia.

We should all respect every one from every race and see who the best man is! I respect Devin Haney and I believe he didn’t mean this with Racist intent but let’s all respect each other for the love of the sport ❤️👊🏼 https://t.co/HevFtyFOVN
— Ryan Garcia (@KingRyanG) April 17, 2020

Veteran boxing promoter Lou DiBella also chimed in saying:

Nah, we can do without the racial shit... just unnecessary and provocative of biased negativity. And, not for nothing, Loma has better footwork, faster feet, and is a better dancer, than just about every fighter on the rainbow of skin color or tone. #boxing
— Lou DiBella (@loudibella) April 18, 2020

Those reactions, among a wave of backlash, prompted the 21-year-old Haney to attempt to add clarity to where he's at during this point of his career, essentially stating that he's chasing the legendary career of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the self-proclaimed "The Best Ever's" undefeated record.

I’m not racist and I never will be a racist. I’m chasing greatness.#Undefeated pic.twitter.com/i6VPG61Gdo
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) April 18, 2020

Haney added for good measure:

I just had a very positive conversation with Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the WBC and confirmed to him directly my commitment to be a role model and my absolute rejection of discrimination of any kind!
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) April 18, 2020

Although the likes of Haney and Garcia remain undefeated, it's Loma, a three-division world champ, who's widely regarded as the man to beat at lightweight and arguably the top pound-for-pound boxer that the sweet science has to offer.