Vasyl Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez

There was no crowd to cheer the new lightweight champion at the MGM Grand on October 17, 2020. Behind closed doors in Las Vegas, Teofimo Lopez won a unanimous decision over Vasyl Lomachenko by taking the first seven rounds on every judge’s card, surviving the Ukrainian’s late recovery, and finishing with his strongest round of the fight. Lopez added Lomachenko’s World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organisation belts to the International Boxing Federation title he had won from Richard Commey. The WBC Franchise and Ring lightweight titles were also at stake.

Lopez, 23, entered unbeaten in 15 professional fights, his second-round stoppage of Commey the previous December having established him among the division’s leading men. Lomachenko, 32, was a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a world champion in three weight divisions. His changes of angle and rapid combinations had troubled opponents accustomed to fighting directly in front of them. Lopez faced him without giving up the centre of the ring. The younger man’s jab, body punching and readiness to counter made Lomachenko unusually cautious from the opening bell.

Lopez landed the first telling punch, a right to the body, in a first round in which Lomachenko moved almost continuously but scarcely threw a punch. Lopez followed him without rushing and took the round through his greater activity. In the second, he landed a right to the head and worked to the body. Lomachenko found him with a couple of countering lefts, though he did too little to match Lopez’s work. The third and fourth followed much the same course. Lomachenko began to step forward occasionally, but Lopez held his position and scored with single punches to the body. Both men were careful in the fourth; what clean work there was came chiefly from Lopez.

Lomachenko remained reluctant to engage in the fifth, when Lopez again found his body and landed a right to the head. He showed more purpose early in the sixth, coming forward behind his jab, but Lopez finished the round with body punches. Lomachenko was more positive again at the beginning of the seventh and landed one of his best rights to that point. Lopez answered with hard single blows. At the end of seven rounds, all three judges had scored every round for the American.

The fight changed in the eighth. Lomachenko began closing the distance himself, throwing combinations instead of waiting for Lopez to make a mistake. He landed clean left hands and made Lopez defend for longer spells. Referee Russell Mora warned Lomachenko for leading with his head, but the greater concern for Lopez was the increase in punches coming his way. Lomachenko continued the attack in the ninth, briefly shaking Lopez with a combination. Lopez stood his ground and answered with an uppercut, though he no longer controlled the exchanges as he had early on.

Lomachenko pressed again in the tenth, scoring with jabs and short bursts of punches while Lopez spent more time backing away. A low punch brought a brief pause near the bell. In the eleventh, Lomachenko pursued Lopez and put his punches together to better effect, although Lopez landed to the body late in the round. The challenger’s early lead had forced Lomachenko to take risks, and for four rounds those risks brought him back into the contest. Lopez had not been knocked down, however, and still had ample room on the official cards.

Lopez settled the last round emphatically. Lomachenko started forward, but the younger fighter met him with rights, hooks and uppercuts, drove him back and landed 50 punches to Lomachenko’s 19 during the three minutes. An accidental clash of heads opened a cut by Lopez’s right eye late in the round. Mora stopped the action for the doctor to inspect it, then allowed the final seconds to be fought. Neither man was knocked down. Tim Cheatham scored the bout 116–112, Steve Weisfeld 117–111 and Julie Lederman 119–109, all for Lopez. The difference between those totals lay chiefly in how much of Lomachenko’s late rally the judges credited; all three agreed that Lopez had won the first seven rounds and the twelfth.

I expected Lomachenko’s footwork to make Lopez chase him. He’d spent years stepping round opponents and finding punches they never saw coming. Lopez had earned his IBF belt by knocking out Richard Commey, but there was a fair question about whether a 23-year-old puncher could keep his composure against that much experience. He answered it by staying in the centre, touching the body and keeping his hands ready when Lomachenko tried to step in.

Lomachenko gave away far too much of the fight. He moved well enough early, but movement without punches does not win rounds. Lopez took the first seven on every official card because he was the one setting the terms. I don’t think Lomachenko was simply waiting to make a late start; Lopez’s counters gave him a reason to hesitate.

When Lomachenko finally let his hands go from the eighth, he showed why people rated him so highly. He made Lopez back up and won the exchanges. But Lopez came out for the twelfth and took that round clearly when he could have played safe. I had Lopez winning. The 119–109 card was too wide for my liking, but the result was right.