Vasiliy Lomachenko will face Teofimo Lopez on Saturday in a lightweight title-unification bout that is as compelling as any possible matchup in boxing.
Lomachenko, ranked No. 1 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, is one of the best of his generation. Lopez, an Honorable Mention on the list, is a brash, supremely talented young fighter who has superstar written all over him.
Lomachenko will either underscore his position at the pinnacle of the sport or pass the torch to Lopez. The winner also will claim all four of the major lightweight belts.
Here are five questions going into the fight.
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No. 1
Is Lomachenko really slipping?
The 32-year-old Ukrainian stopped Jorge Linares in 10 rounds in May 2018 and defeated Luke Campbell by a wide unanimous decision in August of last year yet some people believe they saw vulnerability in him they hadn’t seen before.
Linares, an excellent boxer, essentially fought Lomachenko on even terms before he was stopped. The official scores were 85-85, 86-84 and 84-86 after nine rounds. And Campbell, a quality left-hander with a significant height advantage, gave the victor problems at times even though he lost 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
Should any difficulties Lomachenko had simply be attributed to two talented opponents? Even the greatest fighters have challenging moments against top-level opposition.
Or at 32 and with 400-plus fights over two decades-plus under his belt, has time begun to catch up with him? Other fighters have begun to decline around that age. At the same time, Lomachenko, who has excellent defensive skills, hasn’t taken any beatings in his career.
We’ll learn more on Saturday.
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No. 2
Is Lomachenko too small for Lopez?
Lopez has said that Lomachenko is too small for him. And he might be on to something.
Lomachenko has moved up from 126 to 130 to 135 in only 15 fights. It’s reasonable to hypothesize that he’s, say, a natural 130-pounder fighting at 135 even though he has weighed 134½ for all four of his lightweight fights.
Remember: The Linares and Campbell fights both took place at 135. If he had any problems, maybe a size disadvantage played a role.
Most fighters sacrifice something when they continually move up in weight. Typically, it’s power. Lomachenko has two KOs at 135, Linares and Anthony Crolla. He seems to have some some pop. And sometimes a fighter loses overall effectiveness as he moves up.
Lopez is a career-long 135-pounder who has fought as heavy as 139¾. He’s the naturally bigger guy.
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No. 3
Do we have an accurate picture of Lopez?
The Honduran-American has been sensational every time out, whether it was his boxing ability, his speed, his punching power or his trade mark flip after every victory. And he didn’t just win a 135-pound title in December; he seized it, destroying Richard Commey in less than two rounds.
What do we really know about Lopez, though?
He hasn’t exactly beaten an A-list of opponents. Diego Magdaleno and Commey, arguably his toughest opponents, are good fighters but not the kind of tests to give us a complete picture of Lopez’s ability.
Lopez himself has acknowledged he has more to prove after Lomachenko questioned his resume.
He appears to have all the tools necessary to become a major star but we can’t be certain.
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No. 4
Is Lopez the toughest opponent Lomachenko will have faced?
That’s a stretch given Lomachenko’s resume.
Consider his big-name victims: Gary Russell Jr., Roman Martinez, Nicholas Walters, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Linares, Jose Pedraza, Crolla and Campbell. Lopez might turn out to be better than any of those fighters but, going back to No. 3 here, we can’t say that yet.
We don’t know whether Lopez’s has a skill set that will allow him to keep pace with Lomachenko. And we don’t know whether he can handle the pressure that comes with a fight of this magnitude, although he hasn’t shown any signs of cracking in the past.
That said, Lopez seems to have a combination of speed, power and size than none of Lomachenko’s previous opponents had when they faced him, which could pose a significant problem for “Hi-Tech” in the ring.
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No. 5
Should the fight be compared to Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez?
Some have compared Lomachenko-Lopez to Mayweather-Alvarez for obvious reasons: A master boxer was pitted against a gifted, rising young Latino in both of the fights.
Lopez said he doesn’t like the comparison. And neither should you.
Lomachenko will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer one day but he hasn’t reached the level of Mayweather in terms of accomplishments and recognition. And while Canelo was still developing when he fought Mayweather, he had already beaten Shane Mosley and Austin Trout. Plus, the Mexican already had a massive following. Lopez isn’t anywhere near that yet.
None of that is meant to diminish Lomachenko vs. Lopez, which would be a compelling fight in any era. Fans have reason to be excited.
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