Can Gustavo Lemos follow in Marcos Maidana’s footsteps?

When I covered Richardson Hitchins’ narrow win over Gustavo Lemos in April, I came away entertained, but also more impressed with the loser than the winner. Hitchins showed his skills, working behind a piston-like jab and popping Lemos with right-hand counters as he moved laterally. But thanks to his opponent’s unyielding offensive pressure, he also found himself rocked multiple times, and his almost exclusive response to adversity was clinching. (He was never penalized; other fighters have had points docked for less.)

Lemos never got discouraged, even when he lost a few middle rounds in succession. There seemed no limit to the number of jabs he was willing to eat to break the distance, and when he did, he rattled Hitchins early and clearly hurt his rival in the eighth round. Lemos even finished stronger, leaving a general perception that he had won the night, and maybe the fight.

DAZN broadcaster Chris Mannix scored the fight 115-113 for Lemos; the reputable boxing blog Bad Left Hook had it an unofficial 116-112 and called the scores “absolute garbage” and “awful.” Whether it was possible to get to 115-113 Hitchins or not (the 117-111 card remains an abomination), it felt like the worst Lemos deserved was a draw.

Lemos must have been furious about the decision, as just about all losers of close decisions are, but he also looked upset about the fabric of the fight itself. My enduring image of the 12 rounds is their final seconds: Lemos urging Hitchins to throw down, Hitchins refusing to oblige, and no punches being thrown. Lemos looked hungry for more time; each time his opponent clinched, robbing the clock of a few more seconds, caused him real pain. Hitchins, meanwhile, seemed anxious to get the fight over with as fast as possible.

During the fight, my mind jumped to Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana I: rugged Argentinian brawler shocks slick American boxer with reckless swirls of offense. The bouts differed, of course, in that Mayweather is far more skilled than Hitchins and dealt with his opponent’s helter-skelter combinations more effectively. 

It’s the Maidana-Lemos comparison I’m more interested in. Maidana may not have been preternaturally talented, but his legacy is impressive: he put himself in the boxing world’s permanent good graces by humbling Adrien Broner; he fought Mayweather close in their first fight and hurt him in their rematch; he rose after Amir Khan’s body shot from hell and almost came back to knock Khan out; he fended off the aging Erik Morales’s final competitive performance. He’s a darling of the hardcore fight fan, if not a probable candidate for Canastota.

Lemos, 29-1 (19 KOs), is too early in the elite competition gauntlet to judge whether he can assemble as notable a resume. But the Hitchins fight suggests that he shares one key characteristic with his countryman: the inexhaustible desire to brawl. 

He’ll need that drive to stand a chance in his next fight, a 10-rounder against Keyshawn Davis. Much of the boxing world is high on Davis, and Davis is no longer serving a suspension for being high on marijuana. Two fights ago, Davis beat the once-tricky Jose Pedraza to a pulp. Pedraza was past his prime, yes, but he was also fighting below his preferred weight – he met Davis at 135 after fighting at 140 for the previous several years. Though Lemos has fought at 135 more recently than Pedraza had, Davis is bringing him back down from 140, too; his alias “The Businessman” isn’t undeserved.

Making weight isn’t even the biggest challenge ahead: it’s Davis’s skills. On ESPN, Hall of Famer and analyst Tim Bradley Jnr wrote in September, “Davis stands out as the top young contender.” The most pertinent part of Bradley’s report: “Davis can neutralize aggressive fighters through lateral traps, momentum-slowing clinches and punishing body punches to drain their resolve.” 

Lemos is nothing if not an aggressive fighter, which might just make him tailor-made for the 11-0 (7 KOs) Davis. Against Hitchins, though he was frustrated by the clinching, he also had quick and repeated success, perhaps more than expected, in closing distance and hurting the rangier man. Now he’ll be up against someone who not only won’t hesitate to clinch, but who will be familiar with Lemos’s helter-skelter style. 

If Davis is who people think he is, he should beat Lemos. The odds, though not insurmountable, certainly say he should. In a way, though, Lemos’s goal doesn’t have to be a win – it can be to impress. If he is to follow the Maidana blueprint, future losses are acceptable so long as he continues to entertain every time out. 

In the event that he loses another close decision, Sergiy Derevyanchenko comes to mind – a guy with far more boxing skill than most professional participants yet less than the very elite by enough that he could never officially beat them. Still, can you think of many Derevyanchenko or Maidana critics? The reward for having slightly less natural talent than the very elite and proceeding to make a string of wonderful fights anyway is nothing less than universal approval.

Perhaps losing to Hitchins could prove to be the best thing that happened to Lemos. He may still have deserved the decision, don’t get me wrong, and possibly getting hosed out of a title shot is not high on most boxers’ list of blessings. (In December, Hitchins will get a shot at Liam Paro and the IBF title.) But despite losing his ‘0,’ Lemos made some fans in the Hitchins fight. His visibility and approval rating have never been higher.

What if Lemos is this generation’s engine for wild, thrilling fights against the best possible opposition? That he would step in with Davis immediately after taking his first career loss suggests that he’s up for the challenge. 

Lemos scoring an improbable win over Davis (and I’m not ruling one out; Lemos’ relentlessness and pressure against Hitchins seemed like they’d make anybody’s night miserable) would elevate his career, no doubt. But just making another fun fight will be sufficient reminder that he’s worth seeing again.