The road to big fights in boxing is often colorful. The road to the battle for the lightweight championship this Saturday (ESPN PPV, 10 PM EST) is one with a little bit of Robert Frost to it. 

Two roads diverged around 2019. Will that make all the difference this weekend?

We know the road traveled so far. 

In 2019, Vasiliy Lomachenko held the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts after an August decision win over Like Campbell. More than a year later, in October 2020, Lomachenko lost the WBA, WBO, and something called the WBC franchise belt in a unification bout with IBF titlist Teofimo Lopez.

The WBC franchise tag came about in lieu of Lomachenko facing his WBC mandatory contender at the time, a then 21-year old Devin Haney. Haney took on a separate version of the WBC belt, which depending on whom one asked (including the WBC at various times), made Haney the WBC’s primary champion of the division. 

Eventually, Haney made all the arguments moot.      

Now it is Lomachenko in the role of challenger and Haney standing there with all the straps in the division. Haney (29-0, 15 KO) is there by way of twice defeating the man who bested Lopez, George Kambosos. That was enough to be crowned undisputed champion but this fight is big this weekend for a reason.  

Fair or not, beating the man who beat the man doesn’t always carry the same weight in the public eye. Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO), once regarded as a leading contender for best fighter in the world sans weight classes, is seen as the real test for Haney. 

It begs the question of the road not taken. What if, prior to the COVID pandemic, Lomachenko had been matched with his mandatory? 

Coming into Saturday, this is a fight where there are question marks about both men that have little to do with their skill. Haney is the naturally taller, longer man but making 135 pounds isn’t easy and he has been vocal about it. Jr. welterweight is calling, sooner than later. Could we see a case where a 24-year old Haney is actually more vulnerable than his younger self because of his natural body growth?

Conversely, Lomachenko is now 35. After the Lopez loss, a listless outing where Lomachenko waited roughly half the fight to let his hands go, a shoulder surgery followed. Lomachenko is as seasoned a 20-fight professional as one could find but will he lament not catching Haney before the younger man hit his full stride? A franchise penalty if you will?  

What might have been is a piece of lost time for both men. The road we got is the one that will deliver this Saturday and if nothing else the wait made the fight bigger. It’s a potential superstar against a veteran looking for a defining late career victory.

That’s a pretty classic destination. 

Cliff’s Notes…

The Nevada State Athletic commission still isn’t weighing in publicly and the WBA hasn’t issued a rematch order related to the Ismael Barroso-Rolly Romero debacle last week. Fans who want to let either body know what they think can hit up the WBA at https://www.wbaboxing.com/contact-us#.ZGLiES-B23k and the Nevada State Athletic Commission at: https://boxing.nv.gov/contact/Contact_Us/           

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com