Devin Haney obviously would’ve preferred that he, not Teofimo Lopez, received this upcoming shot at Vasiliy Lomachenko.

The unbeaten Haney is well aware, of course, that the fast, powerful Lopez could beat Lomachenko before Haney gets the opportunity to prove himself against one of the top boxers in the sport. The 21-year-old Haney has been relegated, however, to the status of the WBC’s lightweight champion in recess because the Las Vegas native is recovering from shoulder surgery.

“I am kinda worried [Lopez will beat Lomachenko], but that loss won’t come easy,” Haney told BoxingScene.com while in Miami for the Demetrius Andrade-Luke Keeler card. “Not just any ordinary guy will beat Lomachenko, and I understand that. And I feel like I’m the guy that could do it.”

Ukraine’s Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division champion, will be favored to top Lopez when they meet in a lightweight title unification fight this spring. Haney recognizes, though, that the smart, skillful southpaw will encounter an extremely confident, formidable opponent in the 22-year-old Lopez.

“I think it’s a really great matchup,” said Haney, who’s 24-0, including 15 knockouts. “I feel like Teofimo has the speed and the power, and Lomachenko has the IQ. So, I think it’s a very interesting matchup. But I’m edging towards Loma.”

Lomachenko-Lopez could happen as early as April or as late as June. Madison Square Garden in New York is the front-runner to host Lomachenko-Lopez, but promoter Bob Arum is weighing offers from other venues.

Regardless, Lomachenko-Lopez is one of the best fights that’ll be offered to boxing fans in 2020.

Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs), who’ll turn 32 on February 17, is widely viewed as at least one of the top three boxers in the sport, pound-for-pound. He owns the WBA and WBO lightweight titles and is the WBC’s franchise champion in that division.

Brooklyn’s Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) produced the most noteworthy win of his three-year pro career in his last fight. Lopez dropped and stopped Ghana’s Richard Commey in the second round of that December 14 bout at Madison Square Garden to win the IBF 135-pound championship.

Commey (29-3, 26 KOs) hadn’t been beaten by knockout before Lopez stopped him.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.