Vasyl Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell

Vasyl Lomachenko added the vacant World Boxing Council lightweight title to his WBA and WBO championships by outpointing Luke Campbell over twelve rounds at the O2 Arena in London on August 31, 2019. Referee Victor Loughlin handled the contest before a capacity crowd of more than 18,000. Lomachenko and Campbell each weighed 134 pounds. Both were Olympic champions and southpaws, but Campbell entered as a substantial outsider against a man already widely regarded as one of the finest boxers of his generation. The Englishman was taller and had a marked reach advantage, while Lomachenko brought superior speed, footwork, and championship-level experience.

Campbell began sensibly, maintaining a high right glove and extending his jab to discourage Lomachenko from stepping inside. The Ukrainian spent much of the opening round examining the distance and landed only sparingly. Campbell came forward without overcommitting, reached the target with a straight left and deserved the round. The second was similarly cautious until Lomachenko increased his activity in the closing stages. He doubled the jab, attacked the body and finished strongly enough to take a close round. Campbell remained composed in the third, catching Lomachenko with a looping punch and later finding room for an uppercut. Lomachenko responded by snapping back Campbell’s head, but the challenger’s height and discipline continued to cause him difficulty.

The pace increased in the fourth. Lomachenko began stepping around Campbell’s lead foot and closing the distance behind quick double jabs. Campbell still used his reach intelligently and answered to the body, but two firm punches underneath drove him backwards and offered the first indication that Lomachenko was finding his range. That progress became more pronounced in the fifth. Lomachenko stalked with greater purpose, switching his attack rapidly from body to head. During the closing seconds he landed a straight left and followed it with a succession of hooks that folded Campbell towards the ropes. The challenger was badly hurt and appeared close to falling, but the bell sounded before Lomachenko could complete his attack.

Rather than rush carelessly at the beginning of the sixth, Lomachenko resumed his measured pressure. Campbell had recovered sufficiently to meet him with a left to the body and attempted to regain the distance behind his jab. Lomachenko nevertheless remained the more accurate man, bringing short left hands through the guard and forcing Campbell to expend increasing energy while retreating. The seventh produced the best exchanges of the contest. Campbell landed a clean left hand that buckled Lomachenko and brought the crowd to its feet. His advantage lasted only briefly. Lomachenko answered with a right hook which sent Campbell stumbling backwards, then attacked the body while the Englishman held and tried to clear his head. Campbell’s punch had shown that Lomachenko could be reached, but the champion’s immediate response gave him the round.

Lomachenko strengthened his control in the eighth. He picked off Campbell’s jabs, entered behind feints and landed cleaner combinations to the head and ribs. Campbell continued to contest every exchange and never allowed the champion to operate without resistance, but his punches carried less authority after Lomachenko’s sustained body attack. The ninth was closer. Lomachenko reduced his pace, and Campbell again used his jab and long left hand with some success. The challenger may have done enough to take the round, although Lomachenko still landed the sharper individual punches. Campbell’s work was competent and courageous, but he was being required to fight at the limit of his concentration to remain competitive.

Both men had useful moments in the tenth. Campbell pressed more often, aware that the contest was moving beyond him, while Lomachenko waited for mistakes and countered with greater precision. Campbell’s reach prevented Lomachenko from dominating every minute, but he could not maintain sufficient offensive volume to reverse the pattern. Lomachenko’s attacks were shorter, faster and more varied. Even when Campbell blocked the first punch, the second or third frequently found his body before the champion stepped away at an angle.

The decisive breakthrough came in the eleventh. With a little more than a minute remaining, Lomachenko attacked with hooks to both sides of Campbell’s body before bringing a right hand to the head. Campbell dropped to one knee, exhausted and hurt. He rose before the completion of Loughlin’s count, but Lomachenko immediately returned to the body and drove him around the ring. Campbell held when he could and managed to reach the bell, although his legs were unsteady and his face showed the strain of the accumulating punishment.

Lomachenko advanced at once in the final round, looking for the stoppage. Campbell, tired but still determined, attempted to meet him rather than surrender the remaining minutes. He landed occasional punches of his own, but Lomachenko’s combinations repeatedly forced him backwards. During one late attack, Campbell, in desperation, seized Lomachenko around the legs and threw him to the canvas. It was not ruled a knockdown. Lomachenko resumed his assault after the break, but Campbell remained upright until the final bell and received a prolonged ovation from the home crowd.

Omar Mintun Sr and Benoit Roussel each scored the contest 119–108, while Jean-Robert Laine returned 118–109, all for Lomachenko. The margins were severe in view of Campbell’s competitive work during several rounds, but the identity of the winner was beyond argument. Lomachenko had landed 211 of 527 punches, compared with Campbell’s 131 from 420, and had produced the only knockdown. Campbell’s performance was considerably better than the wide cards suggested: he used his physical advantages properly, hurt Lomachenko in the seventh and remained tactically disciplined under persistent pressure. Lomachenko, however, adjusted to the reach, broke down the body and took command whenever Campbell appeared capable of changing the contest.

I thought Luke Campbell boxed about as well as anyone could against Lomachenko without actually beating him. He used his height, reach and southpaw jab properly, and he hurt Lomachenko in the seventh. Campbell had already pushed Jorge Linares close, so his performance should not have surprised anyone who understood his ability.

The difference was Lomachenko’s adjustments. Once he began stepping outside Campbell’s lead foot, doubling the jab and attacking underneath, the fight changed. Campbell was nearly finished in the fifth, and the sustained body work eventually put him down in the eleventh.

The official scores were wider than I had it, but the right man won clearly. Campbell showed skill, grit and a proper engine; Lomachenko showed why he was considered exceptional. He solved a difficult physical and tactical problem, then punished Campbell without becoming reckless. That is championship boxing, not showboating for a highlight reel.