Tim Bradley feels that Gervonta Davis’ best weapon in his toolkit for his proposed unification clash against IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko is his uppercut.
Bradley thinks the uppercut will be there for Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) due to Lomachenko’s habit of leaning forward and diving in with his left hand.
Tim says he sees WBA lightweight champion Tank falling behind on the scorecards and needing to come on in the backend of the fight to try to knock out Lomachenko, or else he’ll lose.
We’ll see whether Tank, 29, can deal with angles from Lomachenko in this fight. That’ll be the exciting part because if he can’t, he’ll wind up looking like George Kambosos Jr and be embarrassed.
Lomachenko’s Style Poses Challenges
“It’s the feints, the smoke and mirrors he creates with his hands, moving side to side, level changes and slot changes and moving his head off the line,” said Tim Bradley to Fight Hub TV, talking about Vasily Lomachenko. “If you watch Tank’s fights. He reacts to every single feint.
Tank will have to react to Lomachenko’s feints. If he doesn’t, he will be hit a lot by him because once he sees that he’s not reacting, he will land.
It’s a tough style for Davis to deal with because he won’t be able to look good, and he will have to walk through a lot of shots before he lands that big homerun punch that he’s known for. If Tank doesn’t land a kill shot, he will go home the loser.
“Tank is a natural counterpuncher. He loves to counter,” said Bradley. “So, he’s always looking to pull counter or slip counter. So, you can get a reaction out of him, and that’s what Loma does. He’s a feint master. He’ll feint you with his feet, with his upper body movement, and act like he’s going to go this way or that way.”
Lomachenko will have to stay off the ropes to have a chance against Tank because that’s where he scores many of his knockouts against his trapped prey. Loma is smart enough to know he can’t retreat to the ropes like Frank Martin did.
“So, he’ll be able to throw off a lot of the rhythm and timing of Tank, and then he’ll go to the side of you, or he’ll step back out of range, and then he’ll make you shoot. Loma comes in, and he throws straighter punches. He gets to his target a lot quicker. He works combinations a lot quicker.”
Fans still doubt this fight is going to happen. With Tank bypassing Lomachenko for six years, believing it was bad for him, people still think he lacks the courage to fight Loma and will concoct some excuse to duck.
It’s difficult to picture Lomachenko being able to go 12 rounds with Tank Davis without getting knocked out at some point or dropped two or three times. If Lomachenko is as reckless as he was in his fights with Haney and Jamaine Ortiz, hie’s going to get knocked out by Tank.
“Tank will have to time him. The punches that I see working for Tank that could work if they were to fight is the uppercut. The body, of course. Both of them are exposed to the body. They both carry their hands high,” said Bradley.
Tank will try to connect with one of those big left uppercuts if possible, but it won’t be as easy against Lomachenko as with Frank Martin, Rolly Romero, and Ryan Garcia. Lomachenko is a far more talented fighter, and he’s going to be wary of getting hit with that punch.
The Path to Victory for Davis: A Knockout is Necessary
“The reason I say the uppercut is because sometimes Loma will dip, and then come with the left hand, he’ll lunge a bit. When he lunges, he’s leaning forward. That uppercut will be there for Tank,” said Bradley.
Lomachenko gets hit a lot in all of his fights since moving up to lightweight, and he’s got beaten up a little in his contests against Jorge Linares, Devin Haney and Jamaine Ortiz.
If Tank lands similar shots as those fighters, Lomachenko may not be able to take them. Those fighters were busier than Tank is, so he might not be able to find that knockout blow if he doesn’t let his hands go.
“A dangerous fight. I think Tank has to hurt him and knock him out in order to win the fight. I can see Loma getting ahead on the scorecards and Tank having to play catch-up on the back end,” said Bradley.
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