“Its functionality is one of the best.” Khegai on Usyk-Fury and Haney-Lomachenko fights

Ukrainian featherweight (up to 57.2 kg) Arnold Khegay (19-1-1, 11 KOs) gave
interview Youtube channel “Viktor Yalymov’s Boxing Studio”.

In a conversation, Khegay commented on the fight between the undisputed lightweight champion (up to 61.2 kg) American Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) and the former holder of three titles Ukrainian Vasily Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), which is tentatively scheduled for 20 May. Arnold spoke about the weights of the light division fighters and compared them with the weight of Lomachenko, and also expressed his opinion about the upcoming fight for the title of absolute heavyweight champion between Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) and Briton Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs).

– They are talking about the Lomachenko vs. Haney fight. What can you say about this fight?

“It’s a 50-50 fight. Haney fights Lomachenko when he’s not at the peak he was 3 years ago when he was 100% before the crown. I don’t know, to be honest, 50/50. Depending on how Lomachenko feels, how ready Vasya will be. He is always ready, but how much his style fits with the style of this Haney. Haney is long-armed, large, overall. If you look like that, then he is much larger than Vasya. He’s young now, he’s smart, boxing smart. Now he does a lot of fights, and he did them very well.

But Vasya’s last fight was hard. It was heavy, because, too, dimensions play a role there. I also see that Vasya is small for this weight. He moved to this weight, all his fights are difficult. It’s hard for him to box because they’re big, much bigger than him. And all the rivals were bigger. But the last three fights after Lopez, which he did: with Commi, in my opinion, he won well, then the Japanese and this last fight was tough. But that one was just as strong as Lopez, copy was style. I watched, he also boxed. Because of this, it was hard for Vasya, but in general, Vasya won, everything is fine. Many say that he boxed badly – those who just sit and watch fights do not box themselves. But Vasya did everything that was necessary for his size, for his technique.

I don’t know, for me it’s a 50 vs 50 fight. It all depends on how you start the fight, how the styles fit.

Haney easily defeats Lomachenko – promoter

– Do you have any information on how much Lomachenko can weigh after weighing in? I know that even before weighing he can eat. How much can he weigh in combat?

– No more than 65 kg, I think. 65 kg is the maximum. Natural weight, I think, he has 65 kg, 66 kg maximum.

– And this fighter, with whom he last fought?

– Plus 8 kg minimum, plus 9 kg.

– In the off-season, probably, in general, somewhere around 75 kg?

– Yes. This is what the guys do here. They have a different system. They come to us, guys take a couple of sips of water and then go to train. Here they come with such huge gallons. And they are always on the water here. They shed a lot of weight. I also started using this system. Already the last three fights that I did, I did according to such a system that I do weight on the day of the weigh-in. I feel much better. It’s easier for me to regain weight. I then recover better.

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– Well, the last question. Everyone is waiting for this fight. I think this is the most important fight of the year – it’s Usyk – Fury. What do you say?

– Very heavy. Usyk did what no one expected from him. Maybe his team expected, some people believed in the Ukrainian, everyone supports him. But if you look at the dimensions, even when he fought Joshua… I don’t know, I thought he could win 30 vs 70. Why would he win the first fight, and the second fight… I know that he is very physically fit. It has one of the most powerful features right now. I think this fight will be very difficult for both. Fury hasn’t dated the likes of Usyk. With small ones, it will probably be more difficult for him to fight, because Usyk is much smaller and faster than him, he will move. But Fury is also so plastic, he moves well, he is also not a stupid guy. Many said that for Usyk the hardest fight is with Fury. I also think it will be a tough fight. I think he can win 60/40.

– Do you think this will be Usyk’s last fight?

– No. I think no. I think he will win, unify the belts, if, God forbid, he wins. Then there will be a rematch with Fury. It does not appear that he is in critical condition. I think he can still do if he wins four belts. He will already earn other money, much more than he earns now. Right now he has already earned good money, and I think that he will have a great incentive to continue even further. To do, I don’t know, there are four, five fights. He is not very old. When he goes out to fight, he’s fresh. It’s my opinion.