Tag Archives: Vasyl Lomochenko

Posted on 12/03/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Like most, Vasiliy Lomachenko was completely stunned by the results.

The former three-division world titlist and pound for pound star believed that long-time rival, Teofimo Lopez, would take care of business this past weekend. Yet, in front of a mostly pro-Lopez crowd at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, Australian contender George Kambosos Jr. scored arguably the upset of the year.

Early on, Kambosos Jr. enjoyed unprecedented success, scoring a first-round knockdown before ultimately eking out a close split decision victory. While Lomachenko was proven wrong in his pre-fight conjecture, the Ukrainian is simply chalking up Lopez’s defeat to the unpredictable nature of boxing.

“Before the fight, I gave some chance for Kambosos,” said Lomachenko during an interview with Sky Sports. “But of course I thought Lopez would win this fight. But it is what it is. This is boxing life.”

Lomachenko, 33, had long been hoping to continue his winning ways in order to draw Lopez back into the ring. Just over a year ago, the former two-time Olympic gold medalist fought a tactical battle against Lopez. Despite being pegged as the favorite, Lomachenko would go on to lose their contest. In the process, his unified lightweight title reign came to an end.

Though he was originally hoping to redeem himself against Lopez and regain his championship status, with Kambosos Jr. now reigning supreme as the man to beat in the division, Lomachenko now has his eyes set on the Australian.

“Of course, I want this fight. We’ll see,” continued Lomachenko when asked if a showdown against Kambosos Jr. was possible. It’s my goal in boxing now. Undisputed world champion, this is my motivation.”

No matter how badly Lomachenko would love to get his hands on Kambosos Jr., for now, he has a monumental task ahead of him. On December 11th, at Madison Square Garden, Lomachenko will take on former lightweight titlist Richard Commey.

With the 34-year-old known as a pernicious puncher, Lomachenko refuses to look too far ahead. However, if he’s victorious in his return to the ring, he’ll look towards locking in his own shot at Kambosos Jr.

“First of all, I have a fight on December 11, and my focus is on this fight. After this fight, I can talk about my future.”

Posted on 11/07/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Teofimo Lopez is extremely proud of what he was able to accomplish late last year.

The 24-year-old New York native walked into his showdown against Vasyl Lomachenko as a considerable underdog. Despite most of the betting world expecting him to come up short, Lopez went on to dominate the early portion of their showdown before ultimately holding on to eke out a close decision win.

At the time, Lomachenko was considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. And while Lopez is convinced that he’s now the superior fighter, he also believes that Lomachenko would cause fits to any and everyone at both 130 and 135 pounds.

“Lomachenko would beat up Tank,” said Lopez to a group of reporters. “Lomachenko would devour Devin Haney, Lomacehnko would beat Shakur.”

As Lopez’s comments have made the airwaves, Stevenson has gotten wind. Although the newly crowned 130-pound titlist could have aimed his vitriol at just Lopez, he instead set his sights on both Lopez and Lomachenko.

“Boy you or Loma can’t f with me,” said Stevenson on his social media account. “Don’t put me in no convo.”

Stevenson, a former Olympic silver medalist, is fresh off a career-best performance. Just a few short weeks ago on October 23rd, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta Georgia, Stevenson ripped away the WBO 130 pound title from former champion, Jamel Herring.

Currently, Stevenson is hoping to add even more gold to his ever-growing collection as he’s targeting a matchup against WBC champion, Oscar Valdez. In addition to a bout against Valdez, Stevenson has expressed a desire to take on Lomachenko as well. However, Stevenson has acknowledged that a showdown between the pair is unlikely with Lomachenko currently campaigning five pounds north.

Although it appears as though Stevenson and Lopez are now at odds, the WBO 130 pound titlist quickly put that narrative to bed.

“He cool peoples. I support him. I’m just telling it like it is.”

Posted on 10/24/2021

By: Hans Themistode

A full 24 hours hasn’t passed quite yet but Shakur Stevenson is already taking aim at some of the bigger names in, or around, the super featherweight division.

Just a few short hours, the former 2016 Olympic silver medalist dominated long-standing WBO super featherweight belt holder, Jamel Herring. The two clashed in the main event slot at State Farm Arena, in Atlanta Georgia, late last night.

From the moment the opening bell rang, Stevenson showed exactly why he was pegged as an overwhelming favorite. The New Jersey native sliced and diced through the defense of Herring and made it look incredibly easy in the process. A crowd of just over 5,000 may have rooted Herring on, but Stevenson simply smiled as he continued his assault.

With Stevenson pitching a near shutout, referee Mark Nelson mercifully called a stop to their contest in the tenth round.

As Stevenson now scours the 130 pound landscape, very few names intrigue him. However, if a showdown against Vasyl Lomachenko can be made, Stevenson would love to square off against him next.

“Most definitely,” said Stevenson when asked about the possibility of facing Lomachenko next by Mike Coppinger of ESPN. “But last I checked, he said he was staying at 135. I’m down for a fight, I don’t duck no action.”

Long before Stevenson staked his claim as arguably the best fighter at 130 pounds, Lomachenko was viewed as just that. During his super featherweight run, the Ukrainian star unseated the likes of Roman Martinez, Nicholas Walters, and Guillermo Rigondeaux.

After laying waste to many of the top names in the division, Lomachenko opted to face bigger men one-weight class higher at 135 pounds. So far, the former two-time Olympic gold medalist has proven to be just as dominant, getting his hands on three of the four major world titles in the division, before coming up just short in his bid to become an undisputed world champion against Teofimo Lopez.

While it’s unclear if Lomachenko would be willing to placate Stevenson’s wishes and move back down to the division he once dominated, Stevenson is hoping that at some point, he matches up against WBC titleholder, Oscar Valdez.

Posted on 09/05/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Since suffering defeat at the hands of Teofimo Lopez, Vasyl Lomachenko has done everything in his power to get his rival back in the ring.

The two squared off in mid-October, 2020, with three of the four major lightweight world titles on the line. Heading in, Lomachenko was considered the consensus best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and was expected to deal with Lopez with relative ease.

But, after a slow start, Lopez grabbed an insurmountable lead before winning a unanimous decision victory.

Since then, the Ukrainian has hunted down past opponents of Lopez in an attempt to defeat them in more devastating fashion. After stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in the ninth round this past June, an opponent who gave Lopez major issues before eking out a close win in 2019, Lomachenko is rumored to be on track to take on another former Lopez opponent. This time, in Richard Commey.

While Lomachenko is hoping to pick up another win, Lopez isn’t impressed with his former rival facing his hand-me-downs.

“He’s just trying to fight my leftovers,” said Lopez during an interview with Sky Sports Boxing. “He’s trying to come back and redeem himself.”

Although Lopez doesn’t seem all that impressed, Bob Arum, promoter of Lomachenko and Lopez, was pleased with the Ukrainian’s stoppage win over Nakatani. So much so in fact, that Arum is planning to put them back in the ring against one another in the near future.

“We’ll figure it out,” said Arum following Lomachenko’s win. “I think a rematch between Loma and Teofimo on pay-per-view does a lot of business.”

Before a rematch between the two can take place, Lopez still has business to attend to. The unified lightweight titlist is set to take on mandatory challenger, George Kambosos Jr. on October 5th, at the Hulu Theater in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Provided he wins, Arum would love nothing more than to begin engineering part two. But while the long-time promoter is salivating over the amount of money that can be made and despite fans around the world wanting to see them run things back once more, Lopez has emphatically rejected the idea that he’ll ever face Lomachenko again.

“It’s kinda cute how everyone thinks he’s going to get me again,” said Lopez. “I’m moving forward, we’re past that. Now we’re looking at bigger and better things like [Josh] Taylor. There’s no rematch. Had I lost, they would’ve never gave me the opportunity at all. Why do I have to give it to them? I’m not doing that.”

Posted on 06/26/2021

By: Hans Themistode

From the moment Vasiliy Lomachenko announced that he was moving up to the 135-pound weight class in 2018, many believed he was making a huge mistake. Despite his obvious skill, the Ukrainian isn’t a naturally big fighter. Yet, he was more than willing to be at a size disadvantage more times than not.

At first, Lomachenko appeared to have little to no trouble navigating through the lightweight division. But, following his recent defeat at the hands of Teofimo Lopez in October of 2020, there was a belief that he could return to the 130-pound division. With that said, Lomachenko has stated on numerous occasions that he has no intentions of moving down.

Well, actually, he would. But only under one condition.

“If I was offered to fight for all four titles at junior lightweight, I would absolutely take that fight,” said Lomachenko during an interview with Boxingscene.com.

While Lomachenko would like nothing more than to call himself a champion once again, doing it at 135 pounds would mean even more to him. Currently, Lomachenko is only a few hours away from beginning his road back to a world title as he takes on the highly-rated Masayoshi Nakatani at Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada later tonight.

Should the pound-for-pound star walk out victorious, he fully intends on pursuing a rematch with Lopez. If that doesn’t pan out, Lomachenko has expressed a desire to go after WBC belt holder, Devin Haney. Regardless of the route he ultimately takes, in the end, the goal is to wrap all four 135 pound world titles around his waist.

“I intend to stay at lightweight, win back all of my titles and become undisputed champion.”

Posted on 05/26/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Vasiliy Lomachenko continues to say he was robbed. The former three-division champion lost all of his lightweight world titles at the hands of Teofimo Lopez in October of 2020.

Heading in, the Ukrainian was viewed as the heavy favorite. Yet, it was his reluctance to throw punches during the first half of the fight that allowed Lopez to jump out to an insurmountable lead. With roughly half a year to process what happened, Lomachenko is convinced that their contest should have been ruled a draw. At this point for Lopez, he can’t help but chuckle.

“I can just laugh about it that’s all,” said Lopez to a group of reporters during a virtual press conference. “Lomachenko is in the past now. At the end of the day, I took his heart. Even if we were to fight again, I’ll knock him out.”

For both Lopez and Lomachenko, neither fighter has grown an interest in shaking the other’s hand. The two spent most of the build-up to their fight antagonizing the other. Even with 12 rounds of swapping fists, the beef between them doesn’t appear to be over.

Still, while Lopez is attempting to put Lomachenko in the rearview mirror, he does credit the pound-for-pound star for one thing.

“Fighting that caliber of fighter has elevated me to a whole other level.”

Lopez, 23, is currently just a few weeks away from defending his lightweight world titles against mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. on June 19th. In the case of Lomachenko, he’ll look to move past his unexpected defeat as he takes on Masayoshi Nakatani one week later on June 26th.

Although Lopez says he’s fully focused on the task at hand, he believes he knows why Lomachenko seemingly can’t get over the loss. As an amateur, Lomachenko is widely regarded as the best ever as he racked up 396 wins and only one defeat. In addition to that, he also has two Olympic gold medals. In the pro ranks, Lomachenko has been equally impressive. At the moment, the Ukrainian is the fastest male in boxing history to win world titles in three separate weight classes.

Considering the massive amount of success he’s experienced throughout his boxing lifespan, Lopez believes the loss he inflicted is simply a tough pill to swallow.

“With Lomachenko, he’s just somebody that took an ass whopping and he doesn’t know how to handle it right.”

Posted on 01/13/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Vasiliy Lomachenko is currently pounding away at the heavy bag and working on his craft. The former unified lightweight titlist is still disappointed in the outcome of his undisputed showdown with Teofimo Lopez but he is attempting to work his way back to the number one spot in the division.

On numerous occasions, Lopez has regurgitated that he will not give Lomachenko a rematch. With the possibility of regaining his world titles off the table, current WBC belt holder Devin Haney could become a target. However, it seems as though Haney is holding onto a grudge that he has with the Ukrainian and isn’t fully ready to let it go.

“I remember a time when Loma wouldn’t even say my name,” said Haney on the Ak and Barak Show. “I was his mandatory and he wouldn’t say my name and would act like I didn’t exist. So it’s like do I even want to give you a shot right now? Or do I want to fight one of these young guys that are actually speaking my name and throwing my name in the hat. At one point, Loma wouldn’t even throw me in the hat of guys.”

For 22-year-old Haney, he was in fact the mandatory challenger to Lomachenko’s WBC crown. Despite that, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman introduced the term “Franchise Champion.” That in turn would elevate Haney to full belt holder. While he appreciated his first world title, it wasn’t the way he envisioned it would happen.

With Lomachenko now beltless, Haney believes the chips are now stacked in his favor. As far as how he views the former multiple division champion, unlike most, Haney doesn’t have him pegged anywhere near his pound for pound list. With that said, the Las Vegas, resident has several questions he would love the Ukrainian to answer.

“He would act like I didn’t even exist. So do I really want to give you a shot? Do you deserve a shot right now and I don’t know how he’s still on the pound for pound list.”

Posted on 01/04/2021

By: Hans Themistode

There’s a reason why Vasiliy Lomachenko has been given nicknames such as “Hi-Tech,” and “The Matrix.” Simply put, the Ukrainian product is extremely difficult to hit inside of the ring.

In his latest contest however, Teofimo Lopez paid no attention to any of Lomachenko’s monikers. The 23-year-old found his man much easier to hit than even he anticipated. With 183 total shots landed, including a career-high 50 in the final round, Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) is fully aware of the power that Lopez possesses. With that said, while he does admit that he was strong, power isn’t the tell-all be all in the sport of boxing.

“He is a strong guy,” said Lomachenko during an interview with SnowQueenLA on YouTube. “But I can’t say he has some vicious punches that could knock you out cold. Yes, he does hit hard. But, you understand it’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how accurate your punches land in certain parts of the head. Then, it could end up bad.”

On paper, Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) is undoubtedly the hardest hitting fighter Lomachenko has ever faced. However, it was a 2018 matchup with Jorge Linares which saw Lomachenko hit the deck.

Regardless of that, Lomachenko had a quick response when asked who hits harder between the two.

“I wouldn’t say that Linares hits harder. Lopez does hit harder. Linares threw a punch when I was stepping in and coming towards him. Those types of punches are the most dangerous type of punches in boxing. He landed that one accurately at me with the precise timing when I was stepping in towards him.”

Lomachenko would, of course, peel himself up off the canvas in the sixth to stop Linares in the tenth round. Despite the knockdown, the 32-year-old claimed that he was never in any serious trouble. Those thoughts were once again shared for his latest contest against Lopez. Even with his younger opponent landing 183 total shots, including a career-high 50 in the final round, Lomachenko believes he wasn’t in any real trouble.

“He did land some punches. It didn’t hurt me, maybe because he didn’t land them right or maybe he is not as strong as he seems to be.”

While Lomachenko claims that he wasn’t in any serious trouble, the former two-time Olympic gold medalist would come up short during their undisputed lightweight contest roughly two months ago. The results though, aren’t something that he agrees with.

From the moment the three judges sitting ringside handed in their scorecards, Lomachenko has called for an immediate rematch. Nevertheless, with no rematch clause in their initial contract, the former three-division belt holder understands that his wishes won’t be granted anytime soon.

“I still hope for a rematch but I also understand right now it’s not possible.”

Posted on 12/22/2020

By: Hans Themistode

The emotions of fight fans were on a perpetual rollercoaster when Vasiliy Lomachenko took on Teofimo Lopez just a few months ago. During much of their build-up, Lomachenko talked a good game and seemed as motivated as ever to shut the mouth of Lopez.

The moment the opening bell rang, the nearly 3 million viewers who tuned in to watch their undisputed lightweight contest waited patiently for things to heat. Yet as the rounds ticked by, many were confused as to what the former two-time Olympic gold medalist was doing.

Lomachenko, 32, spent the vast majority of the first half of their contest with his hands in his pockets as he refused to engage. While he managed to pick up the pace considerably in the second half, he was dealt the second loss of his career.

For months now, both fans and media members have been perplexed with what exactly he was trying to accomplish. Now however, Lomachenko has pulled back the curtains on his game plan heading in and explained what went wrong.

“I had to make him move forward,” explained Lomachenko during an interview posted on his YouTube page. “I had to make some combinations while making him miss the punches. The only thing was that I couldn’t move forward at the very beginning. I couldn’t feel the distance at the very beginning. I needed to keep him off-balance and start attacking but I couldn’t feel it. But when I felt it in the second part of the fight I started coming out more active.”

In addition to having difficulty finding his range early on, Lomachenko revealed a busted shoulder. Something he had surgery on the very next day.

Lomachenko may have looked like his dominant self during the second half of their showdown, giving up so many rounds from the outset proved too costly as his undisputed lightweight dreams were shattered. When the Ukrainian looks back at his performance, he points to his injured shoulder as one of the contributing factors for his defeat.

Finding an early rhythm and letting his hands go would have benefitted him immensely, but it was difficult to do so as he was forced to throw his initial game plan in the trash due to his injury.

“We couldn’t use the tactic we used before I got injured. After I got injured, we changed it. I had to be careful and not get injured within the first six rounds. That’s why I was careful during the first part of the fight. Then, I realized that I was losing in the first part so I started coming out more aggressively. I started thinking about it after the fifth round. I understood I needed to come out, that I couldn’t continue losing rounds. The shoulder didn’t hurt during the first six rounds. I didn’t punch much though. It started hurting in rounds eight and nine when I started landing shots.”

Despite being forced to use an entirely different approach, Lomachenko is steadfast in his belief that he should have been crowned the winner.

The 32-year-old concedes that Lopez won most of the early rounds but he is also under the belief that he dominated the second half. While the numbers were all in favor of Lopez on the night, Lomachenko simply asks that everyone rewind the tape and look at the damage that both inflicted on one another.

“If we compare how much he damaged me within the first six rounds and how I damaged him for the last six rounds I think these are two different things.”

Posted on 12/17/2020

By: Hans Themistode

After having time to dissect his unanimous decision loss at the hands of Teofimo Lopez roughly two months ago, former three-division world titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko is screaming robbery.

“If we counted strictly by the book, the scorecards would be different,” said Lomachenko on his social media page.

Lomachenko, 32, walked into his undisputed lightweight contest against Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) as a decided favorite. From the moment the bell rang, the 23-year-old Lopez came straight ahead. Lomachenko though, took more of a defensive stance during the opening frame. What was thought to be a feel out round for the Ukrainian, turned into a passive effort during the first half of their contest.

While Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) remained patient early on, connecting on 25 of his 58 total punches, Lopez continued to bank rounds as he scored on 53 of his 239 first-half shots. Falling behind on the judge’s scorecards is something that Lomachenko agrees with but after watching the tape closely, he believes he did more than enough in the second half.

“I took one round for the first half of the fight and five rounds for the second one, namely rounds 7-11. We’ve got 6-6 which is a draw. If it’s a draw we use the unspoken rule of boxing, we look for rounds 10-12. I won two of them. It’s two to one.”

The numbers for Lomachenko did in fact spike up during the second half as he tagged Lopez with 116 shots while throwing 263. With that being said, the change in his aggression still fell short when compared to his younger opponent. Lopez eked by Lomachenko in terms of punches landed with 130 and he nearly doubled him up in the second half with 420 total punches thrown.

Lopez seemed to punctuate his performance in the final round as he landed 50 total shots on Lomachenko, a career-high for punches landed on the Ukrainian native.

Still, most pundits are in agreement that Lomachenko did in fact win the second half of their contest. However, the hole he dug during the first half proved to be too much as Lopez went on to become the youngest undisputed world champion in boxing history.

Bad judging is something that Lomachenko can reluctantly live with. Nevertheless, the former two time Olympic gold medalist doesn’t believe the judges accidentally handed in bad scorecards. In this case, Lomachenko assumes that there could have been money exchanged underneath the table.

“They knew that the possibility of a knockout from my side was around 20%. What does it say? It’s about being bribed. There was nothing about honest judging.”

Posted on 12/13/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Any talks of Teofimo Lopez’s size as the main factor behind his career-defining win over former unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko will be met immediately with a disgusted look from Shakur Stevenson. Lopez, a 5-1 underdog, outboxed and outworked Lomachenko in late October to become the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history.

Outside of a height and reach deficit against Lopez, Lomachenko himself has admitted on numerous occasions that fighting at 135 pounds places him at a size disadvantage on most nights. So while many have rightly pointed at the disparity in measurements between the two, for Stevenson, it wasn’t about the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.

“I disagree that just because Teo was bigger that it was the reason he won,” said Stevenson on Max on Boxing. “With that fight, I feel like it had a lot to do with heart. I feel like Lomachenko is a great fighter but I feel like he didn’t have the heart that night to dare to be great.”

Through six perplexing rounds for Lomachenko, the former multiple division titlist kept his hands in his pockets as he refused to engage with Lopez. His early-round tactics were particularly surprising considering the bad blood between the two throughout the build up.

The tentative game plan of Lomachenko switched however, the moment the second half of their contest came rolling by. The Ukrainian product found it much easier to let his hands go and was rewarded as he tagged his man repeatedly. Lomachenko’s new-found aggression coincided with Lopez losing steam on his punches during the later rounds. The strategy he implored may have allowed him to climb back into the fight, but for Stevenson (15-0, 8 KOs), he viewed it as more cowardly than anything else.

“I feel like you can’t go in no fight for six rounds straight and not throw no punches at all. That’s not how you dare to be great. You got a power puncher in front of you and great fighter also. You got to step into the lion’s den and I think he was afraid to step into the lion’s den.”

Competing at 135, although he’s done so for several years, might be a thing of the past for Lomachenko as a drop in weight could be imminent. If that is in fact the route he decides to take, Stevenson would welcome him with open arms and clenched fists.

While on paper the two are similar in size and skill, what lies on the inside will be the biggest difference.

“A fighter who doesn’t dare to be great and don’t have that kind of heart doesn’t have a chance with me. A scared fighter can’t beat me. I don’t think it would be good for him to come off that loss and get in the ring with a Shakur Stevenson. I feel like I’m a go in there and beat him up because he has heart problems.”

Posted on 10/22/2020

By: Hans Themistode

It didn’t take long for Vasiliy Lomachenko to make his mark on the boxing world. The highly touted amateur came onto the professional scene in 2013 and immediately made an impact. In just his third pro fight, the Ukrainian product hoisted his first world title, a record for any male fighter. From there, he’s duplicated that same feeling several times over.

As the wins started to pile up and his trophy case began to overflow, the comparison’s to former greats soon came after. One of those aforementioned comparisons came at the expense of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The retired five division world champion spent over 20 years of his life in the sport. And although Lomachenko has accomplished several milestones that he hasn’t, his record of winning a world title in just his third pro contest should come with an asterisk attached to it.

“I had my day in the sport,” said Mayweather during an interview promoting Gervonta Davis vs Leo Santa Cruz showdown. “But when they started comparing Loma to me, I didn’t have to have 500 amateur fights. He did something that I wasn’t able to do. He won two gold medals which is a huge accomplishment. Just going to the Olympics is huge in itself. They say he was the quickest to win a world title than any other fighter but once you fight 300 amateur fights you’re a professional anyway.”

Saying that Lomachenko had 300 amateur fights is actually shortchanging him. In total, the Ukrainian southpaw compiled 397 fights in the unpaid ranks. All but one of those contests resulted in a loss, something he would later avenge several times over.

His overwhelming success in the amateur world gave Lomachenko the cache needed in order to skip the championship line once he turned pro.

After stopping Jose Luis Ramirez in his debut, the two time Olympic gold medalist was given a chance to add to his gold collection by facing Orlando Salido for the vacant WBO featherweight title. The tactics used by Salido on the night may have been viewed as bending the rules, but he ultimately got what he was looking for as he handed Lomachenko the first loss of his career.

Although he dropped the ball, his setback against Salido was merely a bump in the road as he was given another crack at gold, this time against Gary Russell Jr. In a much more dominant effort, Lomachenko managed to run away with the win and take home the world title he was hoping for.

Much of the attention has been placed on Lomachenko’s record of winning said title in just his third contest. With that being said, Mayweather finds it disrespectful to compare his Ukrainian counterpart to either himself or any of the past greats.

“You cannot compare a fighter like Loma to me or Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard you know the reason why? We won our first fight, we won our second fight, we won our third fight.”

At the moment, the shining star that was associated with Lomachenko’s career is dimming rapidly thanks to a one sided loss at the hands of Teofimo Lopez this past weekend. The 23 year old was given virtually no shot at dethroning who many believed was the best pound for pound fighter in the sport, but after dominating the first half of their contest, Lopez did just enough during the latter portion to have his hand raised.

Mayweather openly admitted to watching their showdown from his palatial estate and was congratulatory towards Lopez who now holds all four titles at 135 pounds. Despite that, Mayweather believes that Lopez should receive his just due, but this notion that Lomachenko was the best in the world was a false narrative from the beginning.

“I’m not going to take away anything from what Teofimo did the other day but remember, this guy already had a loss to Salido. Salido wasn’t the best guy in the world, he was solid. He won a title before but he wasn’t the best guy in the world.”

Posted on 10/21/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Vasily Lomachenko’s disdain for Teofimo Lopez ran so deep, that the 32 year old was willing to do anything to get his hands on the younger man. Even if it meant throwing away his entire career to do so.

During the lead up of their lightweight undisputed title fight which took place this past weekend, Lomachenko was dealing with severe pain in his right shoulder. The Ukrainian native found himself compromised during training camp which led to his father, Anatoly Lomachenko, wanting to pull his son from the match entirely.

Shoulder injury be damned however. According to numerous reports, Vasiliy would hear none of it as he threatened to retire should his team pull him from his matchup with Lopez.

Not wanting to see their man walk away from the sport of boxing at such a young age, team Lomachenko went down another route.

“When he arrived to the States to prepare for the fight, he said in the Ukraine he felt the sharp pain in his right shoulder,” said Vasiliy’s manager Egis Klimas when discussing the results of a significant shoulder injury that was revealed after an MRI. “We took him right away to Dr. ElAttrache to examine him. We lost one week of training. We lost one week of sparring because the doctor forbid him to do much for a week after the injection.”

With Lomachenko losing a wide decision on the judge’s scorecards to Lopez on the night, the former champion immediately went into surgery the following day to address his shoulder injury.

Since the news of his operation, team Lomachenko has been under fire as many believe they are looking for excuses as to why they came up woefully short. Regardless of the criticism, Klimas wants to assure everyone that he isn’t looking for a pity party. With that being said, he would love for the brash, young and confident Lopez to pull his chair back to the negotiating table.

“We didn’t want to look like we were looking for excuses or something. If it’s possible, we would like to have the rematch. If they are so tough … are they willing to come back and do that?”

Although their contest pulled in nearly three million viewers, which ranks number one since 2017, Lopez has shown no interest in running things back. To the Brooklyn native, he already made his point and see’s no reason in running things back.

“For what?” Said Lopez following his victory. “The same thing is going to happen again.”

Posted on 10/21/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Teofimo Lopez isn’t signed by Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. Nor do they have any sort of relationship with one another, but as the 2014 hall of famer sat back in his palatial estate and watched Lopez pull off the massive upset against unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko this past weekend, De La Hoya couldn’t help but feel prideful in what he just witnessed.

“I’m really proud of him,” said De La Hoya to TMZ during a recent interview. “He shocked the world.”

De La Hoya, like most observers, believed that Lomachenko was going to be too much for the 23 year old. Yet, when the bell rang, the Ukrainian looked passive and hesitant. Lopez to his credit, took full advantage and dominated the first half of their contest. The latter portion of their matchup was flipped however, as Lomachenko pressed his foot on the gas and gave his younger opponent hell for the duration of their fight. With that being said, as the final scores indicated, it was far too late.

Now, with the biggest win of his career under his belt and four world titles draped around his shoulders, De La Hoya is heaping as much praise as possible on the young man.

“I really thought that Lomachenko was going to use his experience, well, I think Lomachenko did use his experience but in the first six rounds maybe he waited too long. Lomachenko came in strong in the end but it was too late. I think Teofimo looked amazing, he showed his true colors. I’m proud of him and I think he is the future of the lightweight division.”

With no rematch clause in their original contract, Lopez isn’t obligated to give Lomachenko a rematch. That in turn, leaves the door wide open for other intriguing matchups, including a possible unification contest with WBC belt holder Devin Haney. Lopez himself has expressed interest in facing his championship counterpart, but as De La Hoya continued his interview, he took some time to put on his matchmaker hat.

“There are a lot of great fights for him including our very own Ryan Garcia which would be a massive, massive fight.”

Garcia, 22, has been clamoring for his own shot at the big leagues for several months now and come December 5th, he’ll get his wish.

Perpetual lightweight contender and multiple-time title challenger in Luke Campbell will match up against the young Garcia. With a plethora of fringe contenders on his resume, Campbell, at least on paper, represents the first real challenge for Garcia.

Regardless of that, De La Hoya expects Garcia to have his hand raised at the end of the night.

“His December 5th, fight against Luke Campbell isn’t a walk in the park. Campbell went the distance with Lomachenko and Jorge Linares so this is a real true test for Ryan Garcia. But when he gets past this test December 5th, then he has to go after the top dogs. A matchup with Lopez would be a classic. I can’t wait for that fight.”

Posted on 10/20/2020

By: Hans Themistode

When Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez was first announced, there were only two possible outcomes that could occur for their highly anticipated matchup. Either the Ukrainian native would box circles around his younger opponent for 12 full rounds, or the younger and more explosive Lopez would turn off Lomachenko’s lights.

Yet, when the two matched up this past weekend with all of the lightweight marbles on the line, none of those perceived notions came true.

Lopez, 23, easily outboxed his man during the first half of their contest, winning the first six rounds on most viewers scorecards. The Brooklyn native also finished strong, although Lomachenko held the clear edge during the second half.

It was puzzling to watch who many suspect was the best boxer of his generation in Lomachenko, fight so passively early on. His connect rate of four punches per round through the first half was a far cry from the normally active and accurate fighter many had grown accustomed to seeing.

Amongst those who were baffled by what they were witnessing was trainer, Abel Sanchez. As the rounds ticked by and the deficit grew for Lomachenko, Sanchez simply couldn’t believe what he was watching.

“I didn’t think that Lopez was going to a decision because of the experience on Loma’s side but he gave away too many rounds during the first part of the fight,” said Sanchez to Fight Hub TV. ”You can’t give anybody half of the fight. It wasn’t necessary for him to do that.”

Lomachenko’s boxing IQ has often been described as a supercomputer, downloading information quickly before using all his newfound data to destroy his opponents. With that being said, the Ukrainian product simply wasn’t able to process what was standing in front of him fast enough. Many, including team Lopez, believe the power kept Lomachenko both honest and worried. To Sanchez however, if you took time to watch Lopez’s highlight reel, the power was obvious, but not his other attribute.

“I don’t think the power was the issue. The power Loma can deal with because he has great defense. I think Loma was surprised by the speed. I don’t think they wanted to give away six rounds, maybe part of it. But again, I think the speed was something Loma wasn’t expecting. He wasn’t able to counter as well as he usually does because of the speed of Lopez.”

Watching Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) over the years has impressed Sanchez. The way he saunters into a room and makes brazen and aggressive predictions has caught his attention as well. But as he witnessed the 23 year old outbox Lomachenko this past weekend, a light bulb has gone off in his head in terms of a suitable comparison.

“I think that Teofimo Lopez is the closet that we’ve come in the last 30-35 years to Roberto Duran. He has that meanness, he has that bravado, he has that skill but he still has a lot to learn and a long way to go to be compared to Roberto Duran. But he’s as close as we’ve seen in a long, long time.”