Devin Haney gets the chance to validate himself as an elite champion with his toughest opponent to date

Haney has been described as an 'email champion' in the past as he struggled to get top fighters to face off with him

In 2020, boxing's lightweight division was arguably the most exciting in the sport -- at least based on potential bouts. In many of the conversations about the talent-loaded division, Devin Haney felt like something of an afterthought. Now, three years later, Haney is the man calling the shots as undisputed champion at 135 pounds. Haney will defend his four world titles against Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday night in a bout that is important on multiple levels.

Lomachenko was at the heart of the 2020 conversation as the WBA and WBO champion and holding the WBC "franchise" championship (more on that later). Despite being just 15 fights into his pro career at the time, Lomachenko was seen as "the old guard" as a two-time Olympic gold medalist and having won world titles in three weight classes while becoming an elite pound-for-pound talent.

In May 2020, Lomachenko put his titles on the line against then-IBF champion Teofimo Lopez, one of the young superstars expected to dominate boxing over the coming decade. Lomachenko turned in a tepid performance that night, losing his titles to Lopez and kicking off what was expected to be a glory decade of young talent in the lightweight division.