Vasyl Lomachenko was visibly upset and heartbroken in his dressing room after his defeat to Devin Haney in Las Vegas last night.
Haney controversially took the verdict on all three of the judges’ scorecards to retain the undisputed lightweight championship, with many fight fans left feeling Ukrainian Lomachenko was robbed.
Indeed, Haney was booed by his hometown crowd, with many in attendance feeling Lomachenko was the stronger fighter, especially in the later rounds.
Now, backstage post-fight footage has emerged which shows Lomachenko not taking the defeat too well. In fact, it’s safe to say he was absolutely distraught.
Video: Vasyl Lomachenko backstage in tears
He believed he had done enough to win the fight, only to see it taken away from him by the judges.
Slumped in a chair, Lomachenko is seen scratching his head, then bursting into tears, before a member of his team places a towel over his head, to avoid the glare of the cameras focused on him.
It was a remarkable show of emotion from the 35-year-old, who is known for his ability to remain cool, calm, and collected no matter what happens in the ring.
What has been said after Haney vs Lomachenko?
Giving his immediate reaction, Lomachenko initially said: “I don’t want to talk about this. All people see what happened today. I can’t talk about this right now, it’s just not a comfortable moment for me.”
He went on: “Everything was in the rules. I thought he (Haney) would be better, but he’s a tough fighter, but he’s not the pound-for-pound fighter.
“Right now, I want to go home and support my country and my Ukraine Orthodox church.”
After the dressing room breakdown, he added: “I just remembered that my son (Anatoly) today called me seven times and every time told me, ‘And the new, and the new.’ I remembered this moment, it was very hard for me.”
Lomachenko remained classy in defeat, refusing on two occasions to criticise either the judges or his opponent. He thanked God, his team, management, family, friends, and the crowd for their support after the fight, but he could still not control his tears in the locker room.
Lomachenko’s team confirmed that they will appeal the decision, his manager Egis Klimas said: “I guarantee we are not going to let it go, we are going to go all the way to the end to appeal. Maybe we are not going to win, most likely it is going to be as it is, but we want to show that there has to be justice.”
At the post-fight press conference, a calmer Lomachenko reflected maturely on his performance, saying that perhaps he wasn’t convincing enough to take the belts from champion.
His performance shows he has what it takes to come again, but, at 35, and just having fallen short of a career-long goal, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
