By: Hans Themistode
Vasiliy Lomachenko has seldom made a mistake inside of a boxing ring.
With 396 amateur wins against one defeat, something he avenged several times over, Lomachenko has been as perfect as you could possibly be.
His inability to lose in the unpaid ranks, coupled with twin gold medals in back to back Olympics allowed the Ukraine native to skip the line once he turned pro. In just his second fight, Lomachenko found himself fighting for a world title. Possibly a mistake considering he lost that contest to wily champion Orlando Salido via split decision.
Then again, with Lomachenko using that loss as a launching pad to three world titles in three separate weight classes and a consensus spot atop most pound for pound lists, the decision to face Salido proved to be a sagacious one.
Still, even with his mistakes seemingly a rarity, Teofimo Lopez Sr. believes he messed up big time this time around.
Both Lomachenko and the son of Lopez Sr. in Teofimo Lopez, will face off October 17th. Most have pegged it as a 50/50 matchup that can go either way. That notion however, is laughable to Lopez Sr. as he believes the beating his son will dish out will be life changing.
“My son is going to beat him so bad that Lomachenko is going to be out for of months or a year or so,” said Lopez Sr. during an interview with ABBoxing News. ”He’s going to be devastated.
Dumbfounded, puzzled and as previously used by Lopez Sr., devastated—are words that could be used by Lomachenko opponents. The two time Olympic gold medalist is ubiquitous inside of the ring. The footwork and angle’s he uses have given him the alias “The Matrix.”
Cool nickname, but something Lopez Sr. could care less about. His funky angles and fancy footwork may throw opponents off their A game, but it won’t mean a thing to his son.
“Lomachenko is used to winning. He’s used to lining people with all of these things that he does in the ring but that’s not going to faze my son. My son has no respect for him.”
For most, winning a world title and knocking off the best consensus fighter in the world would be reaching the crescendo. But for Lopez Sr., a win over Lomachenko isn’t the only thing his son is chasing.
The jumbled letters which form TBE form the sort of symbolism that only one man took on in recent years, Floyd Mayweather. The recently retired all-time great finished his career with a pristine 50-0 record, world titles in three separate weight classes and generally made his trips to the ring look easy. With over 20 years as a professional and nothing more to prove, he gloated over being the best ever (TBE). And although he has an argument, Lopez Sr. believes there will be a new TBE when it’s all said an done.
“My son is the first person to win a world title from Honduras. Sooner or later after he unifies the 140 pound weight division as well they are going to make a monument of him in Honduras. We’re going to accomplish even bigger things than Floyd did.”
