EVERY aspiring fighter, student of the fight game and boxing fan should study the Vasyl Lomachenko-Jorge Linares fight.
Lomachenko was fighting for the first time in the lightweight division, while Linares was defending his WBA lightweight belt.
Linares was the bigger fighter in weight and in physical stature, but Loma was billed as the superior technical fighter.
THE FIGHT. Both fighters started out at as fast clip. Lomachenko peppered Linares with combinations from the get-go but Linares was in the thick of it, landing some right hands and jabs.
I thought Loma was a bit reckless in the first half of the fight and didn’t exactly give much premium to defense, probably thinking he could easily outwork Linares by virtue of his speed advantage.
And he did for the most part, but the rounds were still competitive as Linares’ reach, physicality and strength allowed him to power through some tough spots.
In the fourth and fight rounds, Loma began landing more frequently and seemed to get a better feel of his opponent.
Then it happened.
In the sixth round, while Loma coming in behind a double right jab, Linares caught him with a perfectly timed right hand that dropped him.
Loma was back on his feet quickly and seemed more surprised than hurt, but ironically the knockdown would prove to be the turning point of the fight, not for Linares but for Lomachenko.
Loma regained his composure and began to fight more cautiously, resulting in a more tactical fight which of course, was to the Ukranian fighter’s advantage.
He became more selective in his attack but more effective. Linares was still in the fight, but Loma was becoming harder to hit.
In round 10, Loma unleashed a lighting fast combo that was punctuated by a sneaky blow to the liver.
As is usually the case with most body shots, the effect was not instantaneous and there was a split second delay before Linares felt it and crumpled to the canvas unable to beat the referee’s count.
With the victory, Loma became the fastest fighter to win three titles in as many weight divisions, having achieved it in only his 12th professional fight.
The win should propel him to the top of the pound-for- pound rankings.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on Mayang Rosales and JP Zosa who recently celebrated their birthdays. Cheers!