Lightweight Happy
Lightweight Happy
By Eddie Sanchez
After months of rumors, a few weeks of purse disputes, and good deeds from the A-said, boxing fans can take a collective sigh-of-relief knowing that Vasiliy Lomachenko will be taking on Teofimo Lopez on October 17th on ESPN.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The highly anticipated Lightweight Unification will take place on ESPN, not ESPN PPV or even ESPN+. This will be on good old-fashion cable television.
Bob Arum, you are the man! I apologize for complaining about the numerous lackluster cards Top Rank has put on in the COVID-19 era. This more than makes up for it.
Three division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs), is widely recognized as one of the top-two P4P fighters in the world. His opponent, Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs), is one of the brightest young-stars in boxing who happens to pack a punch and will hold the age, height and reach advantage in this matchup.
Many in the media have discussed Lomachenko’s age (32) and extensive amateur background (396-1) as factors that may lead to an early fall-off-a-cliff moment where he is bested by a younger star. Given the outlook of the division, the gauntlet of young stars (Lopez, Haney, Davis and Garcia), this opinion would seem to be even more valid.
The issue with this assessment is we are not looking at a multi-year plan, we are looking at a superfight that will happen in just over two-months time. Additionally, the age factor might lean the other way in regards to advantage.
Teofimo Lopez is a 23 year old world champion who won his belt in December of last year against Richard Commey. This will be his first fight since winning the belt and despite competing in the 2016 Olympics for Honduras, Lopez is still far-less seasoned than a potential victor would hope for when considering Lomachenko’s background.
Despite the gap in experience, Lopez has some factor that may help him out. His come forward style and strong-lead-left hook will help him navigate past Lomachenko’s lateral movement. He will need to keep his pace throughout the fight to not get caught in his opponent’s tempo. Lopez will also need to be rough in the clinch and use his forearms to create extra distance on the inside. Lomachenko was vulnerable to Orlando Salido with similar tactics in his only professional loss and this will be extremely helpful for the naturally larger man.
Lomachenko has gained more professional experience since then and has faced multiple styles of opponents that will suit him well for this matchup. It will be interesting to see the adjustments made from each during the fight, because we are sure to see a highly contested chess match.
It is refreshing to discuss the possibilities of superfight of this magnitude.
Lopez, similar to Canelo, has the utmost confidence in himself to take on a current-legend. It’s equally exciting to see Bob Arum willing to make this matchup so early in Lopez’ career when the rest of the Lightweight division is as stacked as it is with young talent.
No matter who comes out the winner of this fight, boxing fans have clearly won. One must hope that following this fight we see the winner take on Devin Haney for the opportunity to become Undisputed champion, or face the highly destructive Gervonta Davis (although seeing Haney vs Davis would be awesome if it were to happen first).
As we get closer to the fight date it will be interesting to listen to Lopez and his team discuss his training. I will be compelled to find subtle clues for how they plan to take on Lomachenko from the jump.
Who do you think will win this fight? How do you rank the top five Lightweights in the world?
