An important look at the past week in boxing
BIGGEST WINNER
Vasily Lomachenko
I don’t know if Lomachenko can beat 135-pound contenders Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis, two young rising stars. Stevenson mirrors the Ukrainian in terms of pure skill but he is a decade younger. Davis is a more complete fighter, both in technique and in one-punch knockout power.
However, I wouldn’t put anything past Lomachenko. He’s still brilliant at the age of 36.
That was evident on Saturday night in Perth, Australia, where he held a clinic that left former champion George Kambosos Jr. be ashamed. Lomachenko easily outboxed the Australian over 10 rounds, exhausted him and finally knocked him out in round 11 to become the No. 1 world champion for the first time in more than three years. .
CompuBox’s stats are never accurate, but they reflect what happened in the ring on Saturday. Two numbers stand out. Kambosos landed 10.8% of the punches (40 of 371), evidence of Lomachenko’s superior defense. And the winner landed 50% of his power shots (105 out of 21), an indication of his punching accuracy.
And although he is not known for his strength, his punches are heavy enough to break bloody Kambosos after the loser goes from left to the body.
We should be commended for the limitations of Kambosos. He is a tough, fiery fighter but his skills are lacking. We saw that in his straight-set loss to Devin Haney. And we saw it again against Lomachenko.
It’s worth mentioning that Kambosos, who defeated the man who ousted Lomachenko – Teofimo Lopez – to become the unifier of the 135-pound division, is ranked very highly. And Lomachenko made him look like an amateur.
Lomachenko admitted going into the fight that he was starting to feel his age, especially in terms of recovery. For that reason, I hope Davis faces Stevenson in his next fight, when he has a realistic chance of winning.
He definitely deserves it. The two-time Olympic champion has contributed greatly to his 21-fight professional career, showcasing his sublime skill set – perhaps most notably his footwork – against opponents. Top opponents starting from the first few matches.
Let’s enjoy him while we still can.
rabbit punch
The ring announcer announced the wrong winner in Perth and then corrected it 😳 pic.twitter.com/ze9Wxt6JaU
– Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2024
Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs) is clearly a one-hit wonder. The 30-year-old from Sydney stunned the boxing world by defeating an unhealthy Lopez by split decision in 2021 but has struggled since then, losing two fights to Haney, winning against journeyman Maxi Hughes and then collapsed. too poor compared to Lomachenko. His situation proves that bravery can only take a fighter so far. … Everyone makes mistakes but announcer Dan Hennessey made one in Perth, initially getting the wrong result after the Cherneka Johnson-Nina Hughes 118-pound title fight. Hennessey first announced that Hughes had won the decision to retain his title only to realize he was wrong. He then called the fighters back to the center of the ring and announced that Johnson was the winner and the new champion, leaving Hughes feeling cheated and the onlookers shaking their heads. The guy had a job to do and he failed miserably. ESPN analyst Tim Bradley addressed those watching when he said, “Get this guy out of here.”
