By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Hall of Famer promoter Bob Arum spoke to Peter Maniatis about the showdown between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez for the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight crowns on October 17 at “The Bubble” inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to be televised on ESPN.
“The Lomachenko v Lopez fight is done – October 17 – it will be in the Bubble,” said Arum. “Lopez has opened up his training camp in New Jersey. He trained for his last fight there. Lomachenko has been training in the Ukraine and will be training in the United States. Lomachenko has a house here and he has a green card in the United States which makes him a resident of the United States. It was easy for him to come over.”
I love this match up and I’m a fan of both participants. It’s going to be fun watching how this one unfolds.
Loma gonna school lopez. Lopez only chance is to land a bomb.
Lomachenko will punish Lopez and make him say NoMas in 6 rounds!!!!
The first thing that comes to my mind with this match up is the bullfighter with his luxurious outfit displaying his skills and the brutal force of the bull. All the odds are in the matador’s favor, but the bull has a chance, and when that happens, the end its suddenly. I believe the bull will prevail this time.
Good to read Loma is getting “geared up” in the USA. I am more confident a fight will materialize.
Objectively, I am leaning towards Loma because he plays high speed boxing chess, but I am wondering if “father time” is looking over his shoulder. Loma’s defensive/offensive angles are important to keep the young, hungry lion (Lopez) off balance with hesitancy and over thinking, during the early-middle rounds.
Subjectively, Lopez should have the size and reach advantage. I also believe Lopez has a better chin. Lopez MUST use his jab (Loma’s chest/front shoulder) to throw off Loma’s ability to get into his offensive rhythm. Lopez must also use his jab to get inside for body punching during the early-middle rounds. Establishing early body punching may help to set up Lopez’s straight, long, strong right hand. Lopez MUST NOT get mentally discouraged in this fight because it is very important for Lopez to consistently apply pressure on Loma. If Lopez gets even slightly discouraged, it will lead to his “mentally competitive demise” because Loma will sense it and humiliate Lopez.
As for now, I will stay objectively with Loma to win based on his experience, sneaky punching power and high speed boxing chess skills (offense/defense) – I will see if “father time” is disrupting Loma’s training. However, something (a subjective gut feeling) is telling me to pick Lopez based Lopez’s size, reach, physical strength, chin, punching power and young lion spirit. By fight time, I may favor the subjective approach.
Thank goodness I have a little more time to think about it. In other words, D*MN IT!! and SH*T!!
Dude, keep your comments short and to the point! Stopped reading after the first 2 paragraphs.
E-man: good overall analysis. Im torn between the two as well.. i wanna say Loma but ima have to say Lopez. Hes hungry and ready to prove a point. This fight is a life changer for him. If he wins, hes on top of the world, if he loses, well, he has to start all over. Gonna be a great fight though. If Lopez doesnt get caught slipping and takes his time to break him down, i believe he can pull it off..
@ E-Man–If the fight were to happen when Loma made Nicholas Walters cry and quit, yes, hands down, I would go with him, but in Linares and Campbell fights, Lomachenko clarly showed he is missing something of his greatness, seems he is slightly diminishing, while Lopez is the opposite.
we know you don’t like Loma.
I wish you guys go to BET on Lopez.
This fight is going to play out exactly like Joe Calzaghe Vs Jeff Lacy. Lomachenko is obviously Calzaghe in this fight.
Good to know Loma has his green card, but does Lopez’s loudmouth, arrogant, vile father have his?
Is Lopez’s father fighting too??
No??
Than what does it matter??
All AMERICANS should be concerned with the importation of unsavory people.
Oh Juan Valdez the most racial Mexican i know lmao. Whatever dude. Teo’s dad is definitely a loud mouth promoting his son. Whether he lives in the US or Honduras, or whether he has a green card or not, everyones life will go on.
Loma school’s Lopez from the 1st round on. Lopez will be a champion no doubt but Loma is a fighter in a completely different class. It’s also possible Lomo turns this into a boring fight
Lomachenko in 2!
I’m not so sure about the fight ending by stoppage. Lopez is eager for the biggest fight he might ever have which will provide extra motivation. However, I think that based on footwork, Loma might be a step of Lopez for the first part of the fight. By round 7, Lopez might find himself in a big hole and will be forced to play catch-up for the rest of the fight. 116-112 Loma. No knockdowns.
I’m waiting for a lengthy medical and physiological analysis to appear here.
Loma will win easily
Lopez better have something special if not this will be stopped on count of too much skill and humiliation going on.