Maxboxing 2020 Upset of the Year: Teofimo Lopez defeats Vasyl Lomachenko

The warning signs were there for all to see – for those willing to see.  Lomachenko had just defeated soundly – but without brilliance, the taller Luke Campbell.   And here was Vasyl Lomachenko, who had buzzed his way through boxing, admitting it was getting tougher.

As someone said of the Ukrainian presciently in 2018– the moment his athletic prime starts to wane, so will he.  Well, his prime was waning.

Lomachenko has been a pro – never mind an amateur - far longer than most of us remember.  Since late 2013!  And prior to that – 397 amateur fights – of which he won 396.  It’s been six + years since Loma – unbelievably to some, beat super speedy, Gary Russell, Jr. in a fight that – much like Lomachenko’s defeat to Lopez – Russell just couldn’t handle.  

To this day, Russell is in denial.  He’s been the fastest thing since light most of his entire life – going back to single digit years. 

My Dad and I, in transit from Naples to Rome, once stopped for lunch in a tiny Italian village and the waitress, a young girl, was probably better looking than any Hollywood starlet – by a long shot.   So what was she doing here?  Well, here she was.

Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kvi, Ukraine appears to be a gorgeous city of 50 thousand – with one native resident, Vasily Lomachenko, far more famous than others. 

But ask the astoundingly talented pros –some, all-time greats and locks for the HOF, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Jorge Linares and Mr. Russell and oh, Nicholas Walters.  Ask them what they know about Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi.  WTF is up with Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi!  Sure, this murderer’s row that Lomachenko annihilated had heard all about his prodigal amateur record.  But this is professional boxing, jack.  There are levels to boxing just as there are levels to beauty and professional boxing is king. 

The most certain warning sign for me that Lomachenko was in trouble going into the Lopez fight, were sudden weird statements.  Unmistakable confessions.  That he was past his athletic peak.  That he hoped he could beat Lopez in this past-prime state. 

Boxing isn’t basketball.  Jordan, with tons of guile and experience could continue to compete when he’d lost a step.  Basketball is a team sport and Jordan usually had other greats surrounding him.  Not so in a boxing ring. 

Sure, Lomachenko’s Dad, Anatoly, is an absolute wizard of the game.  And maybe he really had known before his son’s birth that he would become champion.  But he can’t fight for his son and in Vasyl’s corner in his fight with Lopez, it was clear Anatoly had spotted no giant holes in the fantastic Lopez’s game. 

In the fight, Lopez was ready for all that Lomachenko was famous for, particularly the angles. But Lomachenko’s angles, and most of his game, is powered by fast-twitch quickness.  Lomachenko uses offense for defense – he is not a Mayweather who prepared in his later years specifically to avoid being hit.  And while Mayweather may have used the calendar against aging opponents and done some cherry-picking – where Lomachenko did not, Mayweather’s pro career stands far above Lomachenko’s – his certain loss in his first fight with Castillo notwithstanding.

It’s inconceivable that Anatoly Lomachenko did not know that Vasyl would take most of the first six rounds - half the fight, off, because he wasn’t what he used to be.  The plan was to slowly claw his way back in and seize a close decision.   To some degree it seemed to work.  Late in the fight, when Loma hit Teo with a brilliant combination of eight punches, buzzing him, Lopez became a believer. But Lopez believed in himself even more. 

He hurt and controlled Lomachenko in the 12^th round and that was that.

Lomachenko strikes me as a most serious and intelligent guy.  In a somber interview a couple of years ago he renounced his English lessons.  He said the lessons annoyed him and weren’t a priority.  Here – I thought – is a dude who knows boxing is real, serious business.      

Ring Generalship – and I hate clichés, is real.  Lomachenko literally could not share his triumphs with his fans.  This was something a bit different, Lomachenko’s attitude during the interview, something I was not expecting.  You want real?  This was real.

WHAT IF?  What if the 2017 version of Loma had fought Lopez?  Ridiculous, Lopez would have been 19!  Okay, the 2019 version, when an already declining Loma had more left?  A 50-50% fight?  I hate to speculate as it diminishes Lopez’s triumph.  Sure – Lopez did not come close to knocking out Lomachenko, but he beat a truly great fighter in close, but certain fashion.

It’s sad that Lomachenko is in denial, and disappointing.  From such a serious, honest guy I expected more – which is not to say he isn’t one of the best boxers in years.  A man who literally made the greatest champions quit.

From Honduras, Lopez’s dad, like Lomachenko’s, had visions of his son, born in Brooklyn, becoming world champ.  As Lopez increasingly annoyed Lomachenko, the Ukrainian must have thought: Honduras, Brooklyn – WTF.

Somewhere in this world…