One of the most anticipated matchups of 2020 takes place Saturday night at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, as unified lightweight king Vasiliy Lomachenko faces IBF belt holder Teofimo Lopez Jr. (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET, the with undercard on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET).
Lomachenko is considered one of the true masters of the trade, while Lopez, the young and precocious upstart, is a gifted fighter in his own right. Lomachenko is rated No. 1 by ESPN in the 135-pound division, with Lopez right behind him at No. 2. There's a reason the focus of the boxing world will be on this fight.
ESPN asked a panel of world-class trainers, as well as former world title challenger and Teofimo Lopez foe Diego Magdaleno, to give their thoughts on this contest.
Rudy Hernandez
Trainer for Carlos Cuadras, Masayuki Ito
How Lopez wins: He has to catch Lomachenko coming in -- it can be either a left hook, or a straight right hand. If Lomachenko has aged over the course of his last few fights, if he's slowed down, Teofimo will be able to catch him. If Lopez catches him with a good, solid shot, he can put him down. [Jorge] Linares showed that Lomachenko can be dropped.
That will be the way to win. I don't think Lopez can win a decision, but he can win by knockout. The best way for him to do that is to show Lomachenko different tactics. Lomachenko is a very smart fighter, he's been around forever, and he's fought all kinds of different styles and fighters. So if you change it up on him, he's going to have to make adjustments, too.
You can't go in there thinking you can just catch him one way -- and think that's going to work the whole time.
How Lomachenko wins: Lomachenko wins by being Lomachenko. The guy who can do this, the guy who can do that. He has so much in his arsenal, and if he hasn't aged and lost speed and movement, then it all goes in his favor. I like Lomachenko because of his experience, and the talent that he has. He's just a very difficult fighter to beat.
He's not a huge 135, but at the end of the day, to be great you have to challenge yourself. What is the whole purpose of fighting at 126 pounds if there's no challenges? That's what I like about him: From the moment he turned pro he went for the very, very best. And there will never be another [Orlando] Salido that just comes to him, thinking he can do what he did and get away with it. Lomachenko has surpassed that already.
Prediction: I still think Lomachenko has enough in the tank to kind of school an up-and-coming guy, who I think can be a star in boxing. I think this will be a learning experience for Lopez. He'll leave this fight a better fighter. Lomachenko by decision.
Stephen "Breadman" Edwards
Trainer for Julian Williams, Kyrone Davis, Zachary Ochoa
How Lopez wins: I think Lopez can win the fight if he keeps Lomachenko in front of him. Against right-handed fighters, Lomachenko feints and steps until he gets behind his opponent's left shoulder -- he wants to get to his right and get behind their lead shoulder.
In terms of going to his body, the problem is Lomachenko fights with his feet, and it's extremely difficult to hit a guy to the body that's constantly moving his feet, because he's changing the target on you. A lot of guys have good defense, but with their head [movement], and blocking shots. Lomachenko has what I call multilayered defense -- he has defense in every facet because he moves his feet, he parries, he blocks, he rolls and he slips.
How Lomachenko wins: By turning Lopez, getting behind that lead shoulder, keeping him off-balance, fatiguing him mentally. I believe both guys are going to be in shape, but Lomachenko has what I like to call mental stamina, and he can concentrate longer than most people. So he has to keep pecking Lopez, keep going behind him, keep turning him into short little shots.
Lomachenko is a better puncher than people give him credit for because he doesn't load up on punches, and he doesn't look like he's punching hard. People assume he can't punch, but he knocks everybody down. He hurts every single opponent or he knocks them out and makes them quit -- that's not a man who can't punch. He's not a one-punch knockout artist, but he's constantly touching you with small shots.
Prediction: I'm going to say Lomachenko. He gets off the canvas, and wins a decision. But honestly, I really don't know, it's that tough of a fight for me.
Ronnie Shields
Trainer for Jermall Charlo
How Lopez wins: He has a shot; he's a good fighter. Look, as a fighter in your mind you have to know that you're better than the other guy, simple as that. Then you have to go out there and prove that. It's a difficult fight both ways, but Lomachenko has the advantage with so much experience in that ring, all those years. He's seen every style that you can possibly see in the ring. It's going to be tough for Lopez, but Lopez has got a big heart. This kid comes to fight.
Lopez has to look at the Salido fight, do what he did. Salido just jumped right on top of Lomachenko, wouldn't give him a chance to breathe -- he fought a very smart fight. Now, that was only Lomachenko's second fight as a professional, but look at all the fights he had as an amateur [with a record of 396-1]. Salido didn't give Lomachenko an opportunity to think; he didn't give him an opportunity to be comfortable.
That's the only way to beat him -- he's not going to outbox Lomachenko. You have to be in his chest the whole time.
How Lomachenko wins: Just be himself, that's it. This guy can fight inside, he can fight outside, he can do both. But he fights outside because people haven't figured him out, except for Salido. After that fight, many people have tried to do what Salido did, but they failed because Lomachenko has a big mindset.
I'm not worried about Lomachenko's age, or mileage. Until you get in back-to-back-to-back hard fights, no. Now, if he was to fight every fight like he did Salido, then I would say, "Yeah, it's getting to be that time." But nobody has been able to put him in a fight like that recently.
Prediction: Lomachenko by decision.
Joe Goossen
Trainer for Sergey Lipinets
Teofimo Lopez says his long layoff from the ring will be beneficial and result in him getting a knockout win over Vasiliy Lomachenko.
How Lopez wins: Lomachenko's very difficult, and that's the problem -- he hits you from many angles and at any speed, at any time. He can be hit every so often, but not too often. So the biggest problem you got is addressing all these issues you are faced with.
But Lopez does all the right things -- he's got a great variety of punches, he throws them at the right time, he's accurate and he is a very, very good counterpuncher. But that's Lomachenko's forte: He's an incredible counterpuncher.
Lopez has the added difficulty of facing a southpaw [in Lomachenko], a really, really good one. So yeah, you have to overcome all that.
Lopez is going to have to train on certain offensive and defensive drills over and over again to counterattack what Lomachenko does. The tactics are going to be obvious -- I don't think Teofimo is going to back up and try to box. It's obvious that Lopez is going to have to do what he does best, and that is force guys into a fight, and he'll knock them out. If you move on him, he'll track you down and do a lot of damage.
So that's what he's going to do, in general. He's going to do what he always does. He's going to be the aggressor. Lopez's job is to pressure Lomachenko, cut off the ring every time that he can. If Lomachenko turns on him and Lopez is able to keep up with the turns and he doesn't leave himself hanging for counterpunches, Lopez's punches have to be compact, they have to be quick. He has to get his hands and elbows back quick, because with Lomachenko, you play tag with him, he's pretty good at that game.
How Lomachenko wins: He's going to be facing what he's been facing his whole life: guys that want to press him. Then those guys give up pressing, and he takes the lead. He's got an assortment of qualities that enable him to fight coming or going.
Lomachenko's certainly going to have to be what he always is, but he's very improvisational.
Prediction: I never like to pick fights, but look, when the numbers go up on the board in Vegas, they're usually pretty close to accurate to what happens. The bottom line is that they got Lomachenko a 3-to-1 favorite.
Johnathon Banks
Trainer for Gennadiy Golovkin, Badou Jack
How Lopez wins: His best plan of attack is approaching this fight [doing what he does best]: He's a pressure guy, he's a powerful guy. Every punch it seems like it is thrown with bad intentions, and that to me is what got him to this level he's at now.
So he has to apply a lot of pressure. If Lopez stays close to Lomachenko, then he's going to force Lomachenko to fight back. A lot of guys I've seen in there with Lopez, the first couple of punches weren't as hard, but Lopez kept putting pressure on guys, and the more pressure he put on guys, the more punches Lopez started throwing -- and all of [the punches] had bad intentions.
You could tell in his body language. That's what I like about him as a fighter, because I miss that -- a fighter whose body language is telling their opponent that, "I'm coming to hurt you." Personally, I like it.
How Lomachenko wins: He won't have to change his strategy much. Lomachenko just has to be more alert in his offensive approach. He has a great rhythm to him, a good movement, which I love about him. I love the way Lomachenko lets his hands go, but he just has to be careful of certain openings he leaves for Lopez.
I think Lomachenko will have to choose what he wants to be, whether to be a boxer, or sit there and trade with the kid. Me personally, I think that's a bad idea, to trade with him. Lomachenko's best attribute is the movement and hitting [opponents], and moving around. That's what he does better than most guys in the sport.
Prediction: I can't call it; you got boxer vs. puncher. I've been looking at both guys' fights. I've got to look at it a couple more times. But I'm a fan of both guys.
Diego Magdaleno
Lost to Teofimo Lopez via seventh-round KO in February 2019
How Lopez wins: Teofimo comes out and he is a guy that strategizes, and he comes at you -- he's a sound fighter, and he's obviously explosive. But in this fight he doesn't necessarily have to be aggressive, because he does have the ability to box. What everyone is used to seeing from him is going in there and attacking, so that's what they're going to expect from him.
Having faced him, Lopez's power wasn't something that I recognized off the top. Teofimo didn't have anything out of the ordinary. I've faced many guys and anyone who gets caught when they're least expecting it, or not looking, if you know boxing -- the punch you don't see is the one that puts you out. And that's the one I didn't see, that [Lopez] caught me with.
Teofimo has to anticipate the movements of Loma; you have to predict where his movement is and catch him there. Also, keep him on his toes, make him uncomfortable. We saw that with Orlando Salido: He made Lomachenko fight; he made him uncomfortable. I think that's the key to winning over Loma. Someone who gets in there and takes control, taking it from him so Lomachenko does things he normally doesn't do in the ring.
How Lomachenko wins: I have to explain myself, because I've been in the ring with Teofimo, and I'm not being biased here. I'm looking at just boxing, I'm analyzing boxing -- not the Diego that got in the ring with Teofimo. As you look at boxing, and you look at experience, and how we match up these two fighters together, I see that Loma is just more accurate on his punches. He's more of a boxer; he's just got the whole package.
The intensity that Lomachenko is going to bring to Teofimo is going to knock him off his game. He's got great distracting abilities to make those punches go through, to land the big shot. I've seen Loma get in the ring with one arm and beat guys. I just think all-around mentally, he's in a division on his own. What makes Loma so tough is the pace he sets from the get-go, the calmness and the angles. He's constantly moving, just inches away to not be hit, to land his shots. That's why his shots come in so clean, it's the angles. This guy does not stay in front of his opponent. And when Lomachenko is in front of an opponent, he's got head movement, and the use of his legs to gauge distance and reach. Those are things you need to work on every day to get it down the way he does. It's beautiful; to me, that's art. That's boxing.
He is the guy to beat. That's why this fight's so great. Teofimo's been looking spectacular. Loma is at the top of his game and the guy to beat.
Prediction: I feel that Loma's experience will pull him through. He outboxes Lopez; I'm not saying he knocks him out, I'm just saying Lomachenko is going to beat him.