Vasiliy Lomachenko is a world champion once again, and the newly crowned IBF lightweight champion just might be the best 135 pounder out there right now. 36 year old Lomachenko looked great yesterday in becoming the first man to stop George Kambosos Jr. One year on from his loss, some say “robbery” at the hands of Devin Haney, the gifted Ukrainian southpaw looked super special once again and this time no judging controversy could deny him victory.
Yes, Loma was the general favourite going into the fight with Kambosos, but most of us felt Loma would win via decision. Instead, his body shots proving nasty, Lomachenko’s speed along with his spite dazzled us as well as Kambosos. The 135 pound division is currently blessed with some major talent – with Loma, Tank Davis and Shakur Stevenson all operating at the weight. But would you be fully willing to bet your house on either Tank or Stevenson beating Lomachenko?
We might get to see one or both of these fights some time over the coming months. Lomachenko showed he is not at all yet ready for retirement, while Tank took to social media to call Loma out after seeing what he did to Kambosos in Perth, Australia. And Bob Arum spoke before yesterday’s fight of his desire to match Loma with Stevenson should he get the win over Kambosos.
Tank against Loma is a truly fascinating prospect.
“He’s after Frank [Martin]…let me get Frank first,” Tank wrote on X.
Tank will as we know will defend his version of the world lightweight title against Frank Martin on June 15th. No disrespect to Martin, who is a good fighter, but almost everyone seems to feel Tank will win that fight.
Could it then be Loma next? Talk about a potentially great fight, an unmissable fight. Loma has so much ring intelligence and, as we saw yesterday, power and accuracy still. Tank is for so many fans the best, or one of the best, young fighters out there today.
Nobody has ever stopped Lomachenko – in fact one could argue he has only really been genuinely beaten once, this by Teofimo Lopez; Loma’s two other losses, to Orlando Salido and Haney being close and controversial affairs. Tank would be looking for the biggest win of his career with a commanding win over Loma. Loma, on the other hand, would further cement his greatness with a big win, another one, over the younger, harder punching Davis.
Bring it on, that’s all we fight fans can say about this fight.
In the meantime, Lomachenko has given the fighting country of Ukraine something to cheer about, and now it’s heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk’s turn. Can Usyk make it a Ukrainian double by defeating Tyson Fury on Saturday?
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