Tag: Vasiliy Lomachenko

Pound-for-pound: Does No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk leap frog Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue?

Pound-for-pound: Does No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk leap frog Nos. 1 and 2 Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue to the top of the list?

Oleksandr Usyk gave the performance of a lifetime on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, rallying to defeat gigantic Tyson Fury by a split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in a quarter century.

But was it enough to catapult No. 3-ranked Usyk past Nos. 1 and 2 Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list?

No.

Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) deserves consideration for the top spot after taking down Anthony Joshua in back-to-back fights in 2021 and 2022, stopping Daniel Dubois in nine rounds in August and now handing Fury the first loss of his career.

That’s a hell of a run by any standard. And the former cruiserweight champ has done it against naturally larger men, who would have trouble competing with him if he were their size. That obviously works in his favor in the pound-for-pound debate.

So why isn’t he No. 1?

Let’s start with Crawford and Inoue. The gifted lower-weight stars don’t have quite the resume Usyk has but they’ve dominated one contender after another to climb to the top of the list and have shown no signs of weakness.

Remember: We were as amazed when Crawford demolished fellow pound-for-pounder Errol Spence Jr. and Inoue got up from a knockdown to destroy Luis Nery as we are now following Usyk’s historic victory over Fury.

And while we must keep in mind the size difference between Usyk and his heavyweight rivals, he dominated neither Joshua nor Fury and benefitted from a controversial call by the referee – a clean body shot that was ruled a low blow — against Dubois to maintain his perfect record.

Fury believes he did enough against Usyk to get the decision, which isn’t far fetched given the tight, back-and-forth war. Had it gone Fury’s way, we wouldn’t even be talking about Usyk as a potential No. 1.

None of the above is meant to denigrate Usyk’s accomplishments. He has demonstrated over the past two years that he not only is the top heavyweight at the moment but also an all-time great, which is the highest praise in boxing.

He just hasn’t done quite enough to leap frog two other future Hall of Famers, Crawford and Inoue.

Of course, we must add one thing: If Usyk fights and beats Fury again — particularly if it’s more convincing the second time — we’ll have to revisit our decision to leave him at No. 3.

What about Fury, who entered Saturday at No. 9? He drops to No. 11 — below Bam Rodriguez and Artur Beterbiev — after his disastrous performance against Francis Ngannou in October and his setback against Usyk on Saturday.

And, obviously, Fury also can change his fortunes if he can turn the tables on Usyk in a rematch.

Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 8 Gervonta Davis will face Frank Martin and No. 15 David Benavidez will take on Oleksandr Gvozdyk on the same card June 15 in Las Vegas.

Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to challenge 154-pound titleholder
    Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
  2. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  3. Oleksandr Usyk – No fight scheduled.
  4. Dmitry Bivol – Fight against No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
  5. Juan Francisco Estrada – Scheduled to defend his 115-pound title against No. 11 Jesse Rodriguez on June 29 in Phoenix.
  6. Canelo Alvarez – No fight scheduled.
  7. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  8. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to defend his 135-pound title against Frank Martin on June 15 in Las Vegas.
  9. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – Scheduled to face No. 5 Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s 115-pound title on June 29 in Phoenix.
  10. Artur Beterbiev – Fight against No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
  11. Tyson Fury – No fight scheduled.
  12. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  13. Vasiliy Lomachenko – No fight scheduled.
  14. Shakur Stevenson – No fight scheduled.
  15. David Benavidez – Scheduled to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (scheduled to face Fernando Martinez in a 115-pound title-unification bout in on July 7 in Tokyo); Teofimo Lopez (scheduled to defend his 140-pound title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami); Junto Nakatani (scheduled to defend his 118-pound title against Vincent Astrolabio on July 20 in Tokyo).

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Weekend Review: Vasiliy Lomachenko reminded us of how special he is

Weekend Review: Vasiliy Lomachenko reminded us of how special he is on Saturday in Australia.

A critical look at the past week in boxing

BIGGEST WINNER
Vasiliy Lomachenko

I don’t know whether Lomachenko can beat 135-pound rivals Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis, two rising young stars. Stevenson mirrors the Ukrainian in terms of pure skill but he’s younger by a decade. And Davis is a more-complete fighter, with both technical ability and one-punch knockout power.

I won’t put anything past Lomachenko, however. He’s still brilliant at 36.

That was obvious on Saturday night in Perth, Australia, where he staged a clinic that embarrassed former champion George Kambosos Jr.. Lomachenko easily outboxed the Aussie for 10-plus rounds, wore him down and finally knocked him out in the 11th to become a world titleholder for the first time in three-plus years.

CompuBox statistics are never definitive but they reflected what happened in the ring on Saturday. Two numbers stand out. Kambosos landed 10.8% of his punches (40 of 371), evidence of Lomachenko’s remarkable defensive ability. And the winner connected on 50% of his power shots (105 of 21), an indication of his precision punching.

And while he isn’t known for his power, his punches were heavy enough to break down and bloody Kambosos after the loser went down from a left to the body.

We should be measured in our praise because of Kambosos’ limitations. He’s a tough, fiery fighter but his skill set is lacking. We saw that in back-to-back-decision losses to Devin Haney. And we saw it again against Lomachenko.

That being said Kambosos, who once defeated the man who toppled Lomachenko — Teofimo Lopez — to become unified 135-pound, was highly ranked. And Lomachenko made him look like an amateur.

Lomachenko admitted going into the fight that he’s beginning to feel his age, particularly in terms of the recovery process. For that reason I hope a faces either Stevenson of Davis in his next fight, when he’ll have a realistic chance of winning.

He certainly deserves it. The two-time Olympic champion has packed a lot into his 21-fight professional career, demonstrating a sublime skill set – perhaps most notably his footwork – against top competition beginning in his first few fights.

Let’s enjoy him while we still can.

 

RABBIT PUNCHES

Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs) apparently is a one-hit wonder. The 30-year-old from Sydney stunned the boxing world by upsetting a less-than-healthy Lopez by a split decision in 2021 but has struggled since, losing the two fights to Haney, eking out a victory over journeyman Maxi Hughes and then falling well short against Lomachenko. His plight demonstrates that grit can take a fighter only so far. … Everyone makes mistakes but ring announcer Dan Hennessey made a doozie in Perth, initially getting the result wrong after the Cherneka Johnson-Nina Hughes 118-pound title fight. Hennessey first announced that Hughes had won a decision to retain her title only to realize he got it wrong. He then called the fighters back to the center of the ring and declared that Johnson was the winner and the new champion, leaving Hughes feeling cheated and onlookers shaking their heads. The guy had one job to do and he failed miserably. ESPN analyst Tim Bradley spoke for everyone watching when he said, “Get this dude up out of here.”

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Vasiliy Lomachenko outclasses, stops George Kambosos Jr. in 11 to become beltholder again

Vasiliy Lomachenko outclassed George Kambosos Jr. before stopping him in the 11th round to become a beltholder again.

Vasiliy Lomachenko still has it at 36.

The Ukrainian boxing wizard, who hadn’t worn a major belt for more than three years, capped a dominating performance by stopping George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round to capture the vacant IBF 135-pound title Saturday night (U.S. time) in Perth, Australia, the loser’s home country.

The official time of the stoppages was 2:49.

Lomachenko (18-3, 11 KOs) is a pound-for-pounder and three-division titleholder but the last time he could call himself a champion was 2020, the year he was upset by Teofimo Lopez and lost his lightweight titles.

He won three consecutive fights after that to earn a shot at champion Devin Haney only to lose a disputed decision in May of last year.

The oddsmakers were convinced he would finally regain a belt against the former champ Kambosos at RAC Arena, making him about a 5½-1 favorite. And they were right.

Lomachenko outclassed his tough, but overmatched opponent, picking Kambosos apart with quick, accurate shots from every conceivable angle and taking almost nothing in return.

Kambosos landed punches here and there — including some hard body shots — but he couldn’t connect enough to be competitive.

Lomachenko seemed to be on his way to a unanimous decision victory when he suddenly ended the fight in the penultimate round. The key blow was a left to the gut, which forced a worn down and bloodied Kambosos to take a knee.

He followed with a flurry of unanswered punches, which was enough to convince Kambosos’ father to throw in the towel and the referee to stop the one-sided fight.

The CompuBox stats reflected Lomachenko’s dominance. He landed 175 of 480 punches overall (36.5%), Kambosos only 40 of 371 (10.8%). The winner was even more impressive in the power punch department, connecting on 105 of 210 (50%). Kambosos was 36 of 189 (19%).

In other words, Lomachenko couldn’t have been much more effective even though he was fighting a former unified champ.

He can now set his sights on one of his talented fellow beltholders, Shakur Stevenson (WBC) or Gervonta Davis (WBA), both of whom are far superior to Kambosos.

Promoter Bob Arum, who handles Lomachenko, said before the fight on Saturday that he would try to match him and Stevenson later this year. And Davis called out Lomachenko on social media during the fight.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has opportunity to reclaim belt after three-plus years

Vasiliy Lomachenko will have an opportunity to reclaim his place among the best when he faces George Kambosos Jr. on Saturday in Australia.

Vasiliy Lomachenko hasn’t worn a world title belt since he was upset by Teofimo Lopez in October 2020, which is hard to believe given his pound-for-pound ability and the glut of championship trinkets.

He’ll get a chance to reclaim a belt once more on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, where he’ll face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title.

Lomachenko, 36, has said he’s not far from the end of his pugilistic road but he has plenty left to give. The oddsmakers have made him about a 5½-1 favorite to beat Kambosos on the latter’s home soil.

“I’m just looking forward to the IBF title,” the two-time Olympic champion said. “I need to take my title. And then after that, I can think about my future.”

Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) maintains that he deserved to get the decision in the Lopez fight, in which he started slowly – perhaps because he fought with a nagging shoulder injury – but rallied in the later rounds to make it a close fight.

However, it was too little too late for all three judges, who gave Lopez the nod and the Ukrainian’s championship belts.

Many believe that Lomachenko did enough to beat then-unbeaten and undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney in May of last year, as he delivered a vintage performance.

Again, though, Lomachenko ended up on the wrong end of a close, but unanimous decision, which allowed Haney to retain his belts and left the loser frustrated one more time.

The fight on Saturday is different from the two mentioned above, at least on paper.

Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) delivered a monumental upset when he outpointed Lopez to become champion in 2021. However, Lopez fought with a life-threatening condition in which air surrounded his heart, which presumably affected his performance.

And Kambosos has struggled since, losing back-to-back fights to Haney and then eking out a decision over journeyman Maxi Hughes.

Some believe Kambosos, a fiery, tough but limited boxer, is a one-hit wonder who will be in over his head against a master technician like Lomachenko.

Of course, Lomachenko has been around too long to take anything or anyone for granted. He repeatedly referred to the matchup as “interesting,” which apparently was his way of giving Kambosos his due.

“I’ve been in this sport a long time,” he said. “We are two professionals. We know boxing. It will be very, very interesting for both. It will be very, very interesting for all fans of boxing.”

Lomachenko sat atop some credible pound-for-pound lists before the setback against Lopez. That distinction will probably remain in his past as a new generation of stars make their way up the list.

That said, Lomachenko (ranked No. 13 by Boxing Junkie) could still make a significant move if certain things fall into place.

Promoter Bob Arum, who handles both Lomachenko and sublimely skilled Shakur Stevenson, said he wants to pair the two together if Lomachenko beats Kambosos and Stevenson gets past Artem Harutyunyan on July 6.

Then Lomachenko would have the opportunity to get back to where he and many others believe he belongs, among the best handful of fighters on the planet.

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Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr.: Date, time, how to watch, background

Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr.: Date, time, how to watch, background.

Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. will meet for the vacant IBF 135-pound title Saturday night (U.S. time) in Australia on ESPN and ESPN+.

VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-3, 11 KOs)
VS. GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR. (21-2, 10 KOs)

  • Date: Saturday, May 11 (in U.S.)
  • Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
  • TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
  • Division: Lightweight (135 pounds)
  • At stake: Vacant IBF title
  • Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: Lomachenko No. 13
  • Odds: Lomachenko 5½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
  • Significance (up to five stars): *****
  • Also on the card: Nina Hughes vs. Cherneka Johnson, bantamweights (for Hughes’ WBA title); Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara, junior bantamweights; Imam Khataev vs. Ricards Bolotniks, light heavyweights; Joe Goodall vs. Djanago Opelu, heavyweights
  • Background: Lomachenko, the 36-year-old boxing wizard from Ukraine, hasn’t held a major world title since he lost his 135-pound belts to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 yet is still considered one of the best boxers in the world. He bounced back from the loss by stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in June 2021 and then defeating Richard Commey by a one-sided decision that December. He has fought sporadically since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, entering the ring only twice. He easily outpointed Jamaine Ortiz in October of that year. Then the former three-division champion got his chance to regain past glory in a meeting with then-undisputed 135-pound champ Devin Haney in May of last year. Lomachenko gave a typically strong performance against his highly rated opponent but lost a disputed decision, 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. He will get another crack at a belt against Kambosos in Australia. Kambosos shocked the boxing world by defeating Lopez to win a split decision and three 135-pound belts in 2021. It was downhill after that, as he lost back-to-back one-sided decisions to Haney. He rebounded to beat Maxi Hughes by a majority decision but he wasn’t convincing last July.

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Is George Kambosos Jr.’s showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko his last stand?

Is George Kambosos Jr.’s showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday his last stand?

Could this finally be George Kambosos Jr.’s last hurrah?

The 135-pouind contender, who faces Vasiliy Lomachenko for the vacant IBF title Saturday in Perth, Australia (ESPN, ESPN+), had a major break through when he defeated Teofimo Lopez by a split decision 2021 to win three belts.

What has he done since? Lost back-to-back one-sided decisions to Devin Haney — losing his titles in the first fight — and then eked out a majority decision over journeyman Maxi Hughes last July in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

And now the tough, but limited fighter from Sydney is going to tangle with one of the most respected technicians in the world, one the oddsmakers have made about a 5½-1 favorite.

In other words, a victory over Lomachenko would be about as shocking as his upset of Lopez, who fought Kambosos with a dangerous condition in which air surrounded his chest wall and heart.

Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) believes in himself even if few others do.

“That mentality has lit a fuse where they’re saying, ‘This is the end of Kambosos, this is going to be an easy fight for Lomachenko,'” he told journalist Sean Zittel in an interview.

“If they think it’s going to be an easy fight, no problem. We’ll see on May 12th.”

The losses to Haney can be explained. He was up against a big 135-pounder who was considered one of the best fighters in the world until he went down three times and lost a decision to Ryan Garcia on April 20.

However, the fact Kambosos could barely get past Hughes reinforced the notion that he was a one-hit wonder.

Kambosos told BoxingScene.com that he had trouble getting up for the fight, which affected his performance.

“When you’ve been with 10-out-of-10 Victoria’s Secret models and then you get the 2-out-of-10, a guy [like Hughes, who] is supposed to be a bump in the road, you sometimes don’t have that supreme motivation,” Kambosos said.

“I had to adapt a lot in the fight. He was at his best, and I was at my worst.”

He shouldn’t have trouble with motivation on Saturday because he knows what he’s up against.

Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) is coming off a disputed unanimous decision loss to Haney almost exactly a year ago but he clearly remains formidable at 36 years old.

“A hundred percent Lomachenko has a lot left in the tank,” Kambosos said. “But I don’t believe he has that dog inside of him anymore. I don’t think he wants it as bad as I do right now.

“You can never overlook a guy like Lomachenko. I’d be the biggest idiot if I were to do that. Lomachenko is an all-time great and a guy we have a lot of respect for. We are preparing for the best version of Lomachenko.

“Once that bell rings, the respect is out the door and it’s time to do the job.”

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Pound-for-pound: Did No. 2 Naoya Inoue do enough to supplant No. 1 Terence Crawford?

Pound-for-pound: Did No. 2 Naoya Inoue do enough in his breathtaking victory over Luis Ney to supplant No. 1 Terence Crawford?

Who’s truly the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound? Depends who you talk to.

Terence Crawford, No. 1 on Boxing Junkie’s list, and No. 2 Inoue are both unbeaten, near-flawless all-around fighters who have dominated almost everyone they’ve faced over an extended period of time.

Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) was at his glorious best in the early morning hours (U.S. time) Monday in Japan.

Luis Nery shocked everyone watching by putting Inoue down in the opening round but that only hardened Inoue’s resolve. The 122-pound champion responded by destroying a good opponent, putting him on the canvas three times and brutally stopping him in Round 6.

Inoue was nothing short of brilliant. It becomes more and more clear that he’s one of the best to ever do it.

And don’t count the knockdown against him when assessing his pound-for-pound credentials. Almost all the great ones have gone down. The important thing is they get up and  demonstrate who’s the better man, as Inoue did in spectacular fashion on Monday.

The question is whether he did enough — or is good enough — to supplant Crawford at No. 1. That answer is no, at least for now.

The resume of Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is roughly equal to that of Inoue. Both of them have faced a long list of top contenders but relatively few pound-for-pound-caliber foes, although Crawford is coming a ninth-round knockout of Errol Spence Jr. last July.

And Crawford has been as dominating as Inoue, unleashing an overwhelming combination of skill, speed and power on one opponent after another.

The knockout of Spence, a pound-for-pounder himself, was just as breathtaking as Inoue’s annihilation of Nery at the Tokyo Dome even though Crawford didn’t have to demonstrate that he could overcome adversity.

Crawford has been nothing short of brilliant his entire career, which is why he was Boxing Junkie’s top pound-for-pounder since this feature was initiated in 2019 and hasn’t budged.

How could we justify demoting him under those circumstances? We can’t.

Inoue could reach the top at some point in part because of their respective ages: He’s 31, Crawford 36. That time simply isn’t now.

Another pound-for-pounder was in action on May 4, No. 6 Canelo Alvarez, who defeated Jaime Munguia by a one-sided decision in Las Vegas.

The superstar looked sharp but he was never destined to leap up the list because Munguia was not ranked. However, sitting directly above Alvarez at No. 5 is fellow Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada.

Did Alvarez do enough to swap places with his countryman? That’s a matter of interpretation. We decided to leave Alvarez where he is in good part because Estrada is scheduled to face rising star and No. 10 “Bam” Rodriguez on June 29. Estrada’s fate is in his hands.

Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 13 Vasiliy Lomachenko is scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia..

Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to challenge 154-pound titleholder
    Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
  2. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  3. Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  4. Dmitry Bivol – Fight against No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
  5. Juan Francisco Estrada – Scheduled to defend his 115-pound title against No. 11 Jesse Rodriguez on June 29 in Phoenix.
  6. Canelo Alvarez – No fight scheduled.
  7. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  8. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to defend his 135-pound title against Frank Martin on June 15 in Las Vegas.
  9. Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  10. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – Scheduled to face No. 5 Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s 115-pound title on June 29 in Phoenix.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – Fight against No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
  12. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  13. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia.
  14. Shakur Stevenson – No fight scheduld.
  15. David Benavidez – Scheduled to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (scheduled to face Fernando Martinez in a 115-pound title-unification bout in on July 7 in Tokyo); Teofimo Lopez (reportedly near a deal to defend his 140-pound title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami); Junto Nakatani (no fight scheduled).

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Fight Week: Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery, Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr. on tap

Fight Week: Naoya Inoue will take on Luis Nery in the early morning hours Monday. Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr. is Saturday.

FIGHT WEEK

Naoya Inoue will face Luis Nery in the early morning hours Monday, U.S. time. Four days later, in Australia, Vasiliy Lomachenko is set to take on George Kambosos Jr.

NAOYA INOUE (26-0, 23 KOs)
VS. LUIS NERY (35-1, 27 KOs)

Editor’s note: Naoya Inoue got up from a knockdown to stop Luis Nery in Round 6 in the early morning hours U.S. time Monday.

  • Date: Monday, May 6
  • Time: 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
  • TV/Stream: ESPN+
  • Division: Junior featherweight (122 pounds)
  • At stake: Inoue’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles
  • Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: Inoue No. 2
  • Odds: Inoue 11-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
  • Significance (up to five stars): *****
  • Also on the card: Jason Moloney vs. Yoshiki Takei, bantamweights (for Moloney’s WBO title); Takuma Inoue vs. Sho Ishida, bantamweights (for Inoue’s WBA title); Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Taku Kuwahara, flyweights (for Akui’s WBA title)
  • Background: Four-division titleholder Naoya Inoue, arguably the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound (he’s No. 2 on Boxing Junkie’s list), is riding a streak of seven consecutive knockouts against top-level opposition. That’s why the near-flawless 31-year-old Japanese star is around an 11-1 favorite over Luis Nery on Tuesday in Tokyo, meaning oddsmakers believe Nery has next to no chance to win the fight. “The Monster” is coming off a 10th-round knockout of Marlon Tapales to collect all four major 122-pound titles in December. Nery has won four consecutive fights since he was knocked out by Brandon Figueroa in the seventh round to lose the WBC belt in 2021. The 29-year-old Mexican southpaw last fought in July, when he stopped journeyman Froilan Saludar in two rounds. He outpointed Carlos Castro and then stopped David Carmona and Azat Hovhannisyan before the fight with Saludar. Figueroa lost his title to Stephen Fulton, who then lost them to Inoue.
  • Prediction: Inoue KO 8

VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-3, 11 KOs)
VS. GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR. (21-2, 10 KOs)

  • Date: Saturday, May 11 (in U.S.)
  • Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: RAC Arena, Perth
  • TV/Stream: ESPN+
  • Division: Lightweight (135 pounds)
  • At stake: Vacant IBF title
  • Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: Lomachenko No. 13
  • Odds: Lomachenko  5½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
  • Significance (up to five stars): *****
  • Also on the card: Nina Hughes vs. Cherneka Johnson, bantamweights (for Hughes’ WBA title); Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara, junior bantamweights; Imam Khataev vs. Ricards Bolotniks, light heavyweights; Joe Goodall vs. Djanago Opelu, heavyweights
  • Background: Lomachenko, the 36-year-old boxing wizard from Ukraine, hasn’t held a major world title since he lost his 135-pound belts to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 yet is still considered one of the best boxers in the world. He bounced back from the loss by stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in June 2021 and then defeating Richard Commey by a one-sided decision that December. He has fought sporadically since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, entering the ring only twice. He easily outpointed Jamaine Ortiz in October of that year. Then the former three-division champion got his chance to regain past glory in a meeting with then-undisputed 135-pound champ Devin Haney in May of last year. Lomachenko gave a typically strong performance against his highly rated opponent but lost a disputed decision, 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. He will get another crack at a belt against Kambosos in Australia. Kambosos shocked the boxing world by defeating Lopez to win a split decision and three 135-pound belts in 2021. It was downhill after that, as he lost back-to-back one-sided decisions to Haney. He rebounded to beat Maxi Hughes by a majority decision but he wasn’t convincing last July.
  • Prediction: Lomachenko UD

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

SATURDAY

  • Jessica McCaskill vs. Lauren Price, welterweights (for McCaskill’s WBA title), Cardiff, Wales (Peacock)
  • Eduardo Hernandez vs. Daniel Lugo, junior lightweights, Aguascalientes, Mexico
    DAZN
  • John Leonardo vs. Frank Gonzalez, junior featherweights, Atlantic City, New Jersey
    com

Pound-for-pound: Did Isaac Cruz do enough against Rolando Romero to crack list?

Pound-for-pound: Did Isaac Cruz do enough against Rolando Romero to crack Boxing Junkie’s list?

Isaac Cruz made a strong impression with his eighth-round knockout of Rolando Romero on Saturday in Las Vegas.

But did the new 140-pound titleholder from Mexico do enough in that fight — and does he have the resume — to climb onto Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list?

Not quite.

Everyone agrees that Cruz is evolving into a formidable fighting machine, a pressure fighter with the fitness, durability and punching power to dominate opponents.

However, we shouldn’t overreact to a one-sided victory over Romero, a good, but limited fighter. And Cruz still doesn’t have a victory over a top-tier opponent, although he gave Gervonta Davis hell in defeat in 2021.

Bottom line: Cruz has to beat a pound-for-pounder or someone of that caliber to leave no doubt that he belongs with the best in the business.

And those matchups will come soon enough if Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) continues to win. Perhaps showdowns with the likes of fellow beltholders Devin Haney or Teofimo Lopez — or maybe even a rematch with Davis — are in his near future.

A victory over any of the above would be enough to lift Cruz to the next level. Stay tuned.

What about Sebastian Fundora?

The new 154-pound champ defeated rising star Tim Tszyu by a split decision in the main event on Saturday, an accomplishment for which Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) deserves credit.

However, we can’t draw firm conclusions because Tszyu was effectively blinded by blood in his eyes, the result of a ghastly cut on his hairline. Plus, Fundora was knocked out by Brian Mendoza in his previous fight.

Fundora’s time might come, just not now.

Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 10 Devin Haney is scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 on pay-per-view from Las Vegas.

Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
  2. Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to defend his undisputed 122-pound championship against Luis Nery on May 6 in Japan.
  3. Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  4. Dmitry Bivol – Scheduled to face No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
  5. Juan Francisco Estrada – Scheduled to defend his 115-pound title against No. 11 Jesse Rodriguez on June 29 in Phoenix.
  6. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to face Jaime Munguia for the undisputed 168-pound championship on May 4 in Las Vegas.
  7. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  8. Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
  9. Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  10. Devin Haney– Scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 in Las Vegas.
  11. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – Scheduled to face No. 5 Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s 115-pound title on June 29 in Phoenix.
  12. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to face No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
  13. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  14. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia.
  15. Shakur Stevenson– Reportedly near a deal to defend his 135-pound title against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (has agreed to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June but no announcement has been made); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Teofimo Lopez (reportedly near a deal to defend his 140-pound title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami).

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Oscar Valdez will start the rebuilding process anew vs. Liam Wilson on Friday

Oscar Valdez will start the rebuilding process anew against Liam Wilson on Friday in Glendale, Arizona.

Oscar Valdez has some work to do.

The former two-division titleholder was on top of the world after he put Miguel Berchelt down three times and ultimately stopped him in the 10th round to win the WBC 130-pound championship in February 2021.

It has been mostly downhill after that for the 33-year-old Mexican.

He tested positive for a banned weight-loss medication before his next fight seven months later, against Robson Conceicao, yet he was allowed to fight . He won a unanimous decision to retain his belt but his reputation was scarred.

Then things got worse. He was embarrassed by the gifted Shakur Stevenson in his subsequent bout, losing a one-sided decision that seemed to reveal his limitations.

He rebounded to outpoint Adam Lopez 11 months later only to lose another clear decision, this time against WBO beltholder and countryman Emanuel Navarrete, who outworked him in an entertaining fight last August.

Suddenly a rising star was just another fighter.

Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) will restart the rebuilding process on Friday night, when he’s scheduled to face Liam Wilson of Australia at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona (ESPN+).

The fight will be for the WBO “interim” belt, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize as a legitimate title. Navarrete remains the WBO champ.

“I’m going to be ready,” Valdez said on Wednesday. “I was preparing myself for a world championship fight. Then we got the news that it’s now for an interim title.

“So I’m more than excited and prepared, and we’re going to show that.”

Wilson (13-2, 7 KOs) is a safer opponent than either Stevenson or Navarrete, probably on the level of Lopez.

However, the 28-year-old resident of Queensland is dangerous. He proved that by decking Navarrete and hurting him before being stopped himself in nine rounds in a wild fight for the vacant WBO title in February of last year.

Wilson outpointed two second-tier opponents in Australia after his setback.

“I know Liam Wilson,” Valdez said. “He’s a tough fighter. I was there when he fought Emanuel Navarrete, and he sent him to the canvas. So you better believe that I’m coming with everything because I’m expecting that same Liam Wilson. …

“Liam Wilson is a dangerous fighter. But that makes it more exciting. And the interim title adds fuel to the fire. I’m very motivated.”

Valdez told BoxingScene.com that he would be interested in facing Vasiliy Lomachenko, assuming he wins on Friday and the Ukrainian pound-for-pounder beats underdog George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title on May 12.

However, Valdez’s first priority is to become a champion again at 130. Defeating Wilson is the first step in that process.

“This fight [against Wilson] means everything to me because whoever wins is a step closer to a world title fight at 130 pounds,” he told the outlet. “This is my division. …

“My plan this year is to become a world champion again. But I have to win this fight first. I’m mentally preparing like it’s a world title fight.”

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