Tag: Judges bribed

2020 Boxing Junkie Awards: Fighter of the Year

Teofimo Lopez has been named Fighter of the Year by Boxing Junkie.

Editor’s note: This is the last in a six-part year-end award series. Today: Fighter of the Year.

***

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

TEOFIMO LOPEZ

LOPEZ DID THE UNTHINKABLE BY OUTBOXING A BOXING WIZARD TO BECOME UNDISPUTED LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

One could argue that Teofimo Lopez had advantages over Vasiliy Lomachenko when they met on Oct. 17 Las Vegas.

Lomachenko was too small for Lopez, many believed. The 32-year-old Ukrainian had begun to decline, another notion that some had floated before the fight. And his 14-month layoff had to play a role, although Lopez had been out the ring for 10 months.

Here are the facts: Lomachenko was Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound for pound and in the Top 10 on everyone’s list. Also, he was around a 4-1 favorite, wide odds by boxing standards.

Still, the brash 23-year-old Brooklynite not only delivered a clear victory, he fought Lomachenko’s fight to do it, outboxing the ultimate boxing wizard to win a unanimous decision and become undisputed lightweight champion.

For that reason, the selection of 2020 Fighter of the Year was a no-brainer.

Most pundits thought Lopez would have to knock out Lomachenko to beat him. A decision over a boxer of Lomachenko’s ability seemed next to impossible.

Then it happened. Lopez, fighting behind his jab, outboxed and outworked Lomachenko in the first half of the fight. The loser landed only 31 of 79 punches through seven rounds, which made him more of a spectator than a participant.

“Hi-Tech,” recognizing the urgency, rallied late in the fight but it was too late. Lopez had built an insurmountable lead. He won by scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112.

Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) seemed to be fighting back tears when he was interviewed immediately after the fight.

“I have to thank God. I had to dig deep,” he said. “… It feels good.”

Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) recently said that he believes the judges were bribed. Well, if that’s so, then whoever bribed the judges also paid off millions of others who watched the fight and thought Lopez won.

The 119-109 card of Julie Lederman probably was too wide but few thought Lomachenko was robbed. Indeed, Lopez earned the victory and Fighter of the Year recognition.

Runner up: Tyson Fury

[lawrence-related id=16833,16807,16761,16735,16730]

 

 

2020 Boxing Junkie Awards: Fighter of the Year

Teofimo Lopez has been named Fighter of the Year by Boxing Junkie.

Editor’s note: This is the last in a six-part year-end award series. Today: Fighter of the Year.

***

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

TEOFIMO LOPEZ

LOPEZ DID THE UNTHINKABLE BY OUTBOXING A BOXING WIZARD TO BECOME UNDISPUTED LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

One could argue that Teofimo Lopez had advantages over Vasiliy Lomachenko when they met on Oct. 17 Las Vegas.

Lomachenko was too small for Lopez, many believed. The 32-year-old Ukrainian had begun to decline, another notion that some had floated before the fight. And his 14-month layoff had to play a role, although Lopez had been out the ring for 10 months.

Here are the facts: Lomachenko was Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound for pound and in the Top 10 on everyone’s list. Also, he was around a 4-1 favorite, wide odds by boxing standards.

Still, the brash 23-year-old Brooklynite not only delivered a clear victory, he fought Lomachenko’s fight to do it, outboxing the ultimate boxing wizard to win a unanimous decision and become undisputed lightweight champion.

For that reason, the selection of 2020 Fighter of the Year was a no-brainer.

Most pundits thought Lopez would have to knock out Lomachenko to beat him. A decision over a boxer of Lomachenko’s ability seemed next to impossible.

Then it happened. Lopez, fighting behind his jab, outboxed and outworked Lomachenko in the first half of the fight. The loser landed only 31 of 79 punches through seven rounds, which made him more of a spectator than a participant.

“Hi-Tech,” recognizing the urgency, rallied late in the fight but it was too late. Lopez had built an insurmountable lead. He won by scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112.

Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) seemed to be fighting back tears when he was interviewed immediately after the fight.

“I have to thank God. I had to dig deep,” he said. “… It feels good.”

Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) recently said that he believes the judges were bribed. Well, if that’s so, then whoever bribed the judges also paid off millions of others who watched the fight and thought Lopez won.

The 119-109 card of Julie Lederman probably was too wide but few thought Lomachenko was robbed. Indeed, Lopez earned the victory and Fighter of the Year recognition.

Runner up: Tyson Fury

[lawrence-related id=16833,16807,16761,16735,16730]

 

 

Vasiliy Lomachenko: Judges in Teofimo Lopez fight were bribed

Vasiliy Lomachenko said that the judges in his unanimous-decision loss to Teofimo Lopez fight were bribed.

Vasiliy Lomachenko said immediately after his unanimous-decision loss to Teofimo Lopez on Oct. 17 in Las Vegas that he felt he won the fight but would withhold further comment until he watched it again.

He watched it again. His conclusion? The judges were bribed, although he didn’t say who did the bribing.

Lopez won by official scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie had it 116-112 — eight rounds to four — for Lopez.

The following is from a video posted on Lomachenko’s Instagram account (see below), with a translation from Russian to English:

“If we counted the scores strictly by the book, the scorecard would be different. I took one round for the first half of the fight and five rounds for the second one, namely 7-11 rounds.

“We’ve got 6-6, which is a draw. And if it’s a draw we use the unspoken rule of boxing, we look for 10-12 rounds. And I won two of them. It’s 2-1. Even if I won three rounds in the first half of the fight, I wouldn’t win the fight as for the scorecards.

“What does it say? It’s not about bias, it’s about being bribed. There was nothing about honest judging. … I don’t know whose game it was. … I do think it was somebody’s game.

“They knew that the possibility of knockout from my side was around 20%. Why not then?

Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) became undisputed lightweight titleholder with his victory.  Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) lost for the first time since his second pro fight, a split-decision against veteran Orlando Salido in 2014.

Lopez and Lomachenko are both promoted by Top Rank.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI63OMcgnvf/

[lawrence-related id=14967,14900,14862,14821,14814,14776]

Vasiliy Lomachenko: Judges in Teofimo Lopez fight were bribed

Vasiliy Lomachenko said that the judges in his unanimous-decision loss to Teofimo Lopez fight were bribed.

Vasiliy Lomachenko said immediately after his unanimous-decision loss to Teofimo Lopez on Oct. 17 in Las Vegas that he felt he won the fight but would withhold further comment until he watched it again.

He watched it again. His conclusion? The judges were bribed, although he didn’t say who did the bribing.

Lopez won by official scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie had it 116-112 — eight rounds to four — for Lopez.

The following is from a video posted on Lomachenko’s Instagram account (see below), with a translation from Russian to English:

“If we counted the scores strictly by the book, the scorecard would be different. I took one round for the first half of the fight and five rounds for the second one, namely 7-11 rounds.

“We’ve got 6-6, which is a draw. And if it’s a draw we use the unspoken rule of boxing, we look for 10-12 rounds. And I won two of them. It’s 2-1. Even if I won three rounds in the first half of the fight, I wouldn’t win the fight as for the scorecards.

“What does it say? It’s not about bias, it’s about being bribed. There was nothing about honest judging. … I don’t know whose game it was. … I do think it was somebody’s game.

“They knew that the possibility of knockout from my side was around 20%. Why not then?

Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) became undisputed lightweight titleholder with his victory.  Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) lost for the first time since his second pro fight, a split-decision against veteran Orlando Salido in 2014.

Lopez and Lomachenko are both promoted by Top Rank.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI63OMcgnvf/

[lawrence-related id=14967,14900,14862,14821,14814,14776]