This fight is bigger than what a lot of people are making of it. Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez is a super fight. I think this is the first time we've seen a fight like this in the history of boxing.
What we're going to witness this weekend is a three-division world champion who has a lot of miles but is still only 32 against a hungry, 23-year-old fighter who is a world titlist in his own right.
We have a guy in Lomachenko who is up two weight divisions from where he started, fighting for the No. 1 spot in history. He already has won three world titles at lightweight. We have never had this many belts on the line in a bout with two fighters of this magnitude, and each of them is only 15 fights into his pro career.
I think if Lopez wins this fight, he leapfrogs everybody and becomes the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world -- because of who Lomachenko is and everything that he has done. Lopez can strip Lomachenko of all of that, take all his titles and that recognition all at once.
If Lomachenko wins this fight, we have to talk about considering him as one of the best of all time. And I don't say that lightly; I say that with respect for everyone in the past. But if he succeeds at what he is trying to accomplish on Saturday, you can't deny him that. He has taken a leap of faith by going up two weight divisions and winning titles everywhere he has been.
This fight doesn't happen if Lomachenko isn't as ambitious and pumped to make history and face down every challenge that comes his way. And the world gets to enjoy the result of that. ESPN boxing analyst and former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley breaks down the Lomachenko-Lopez bout.
What Lomachenko does best
We've obviously heard a lot about Lopez and his father in the lead-up to this fight, but a lot of people have forgotten or overlooked the relationship between Lomachenko and his father, Anatoly Lomachenko -- "Papachenko" as some know him. He has been in his son's corner since Vasiliy was an amateur in Ukraine, working toward his two Olympic gold medals and nearly 400 amateur wins. He has prepared Vasiliy for this moment. And unlike Lopez, Lomachenko has been here under the bright lights before.
Lomachenko has the best footwork in boxing. Because of that, he is able to get around guys and seem like he is in front of his opponents, while still being elusive. It's just the little half-steps. He is constantly putting himself in a position where he can hit you and you can't hit him. That's what makes him a phenomenal fighter. He trains his eyes to be able to see everything.
The way he trains, in general, is unconventional. He holds his breath underwater. And he has this board that he looks for the lights and presses the corresponding buttons. It's all to prepare his mind and his body to do what it needs to do on fight night, and it works.
I think Lomachenko is the best midrange fighter since Manny Pacquiao. Add with Lomachenko fighting out of the southpaw stance, it makes things even more difficult. Because Lomachenko has moved up multiple divisions, he is a smaller guy in terms of dimensions, and he has shorter arms than a lot of the guys at lightweight.
But he does have some punching power. That's especially evident if he hits you enough times in the same spot, which is exactly what he does. He uses a lot of misdirection with his hands, probing for the right angle, and he is able to do that because his footwork takes him inside and out. Lomachenko is constantly changing the range on his opponents to confuse them, to throw off their timing. It's very difficult to prepare for a fighter who can ad-lib and adjust so quickly as a fight is happening.
But the biggest strength of all that Lomachenko carries is his impossibly deep gas tank. He doesn't really get tired; he seems to get stronger and stronger with each round, and he hits as hard in the 12th round as he does in the first.
Lomachenko's strongest attack
Lomachenko is really good at breaking down bigger guys to the body, utilizing a straight left. He has an uppercut that we don't talk about often enough -- a right uppercut with the lead hand, which is a monster in itself. He also has the right hook. Lomachenko has everything, though. It's not going to be just one specific punch to look out for. Whatever opening he sees, he has the weapon to be able to expose it, to be able to land whatever punch is required.
What can be learned from Lomachenko's last fight, against Luke Campbell?
When I studied the Campbell fight, even though he won that fight, it took him a while. Toward the back end of that bout, Lomachenko finally found a way to overcome the big size advantage that Campbell had, and Lomachenko was able to break him down.
That's where conditioning comes in handy for Lomachenko, and that part of it was still clearly there. But when I watched that fight, I saw a Lomachenko who almost seemed a step behind. He wasn't quite the Lomachenko who was making all of these guys retire on their stools -- "No Mas" Chenko.
Lomachenko is starting to get touched more and more, and not just in the Campbell fight. He got touched more in the Jose Pedraza fight. He got touched more in the Jorge Linares fight. He even got put on the ground in the Linares fight [in Round 6], but he got up, shook himself off and got the stoppage in the 10th round. I just see a guy who is slowly fading.
Did a long layoff help or hurt Lomachenko?
Lomachenko has suffered major injuries over the years, and that partly comes down to the fact that he has been boxing since he was a little boy, with hundreds of amateur fights behind him. And he has never really had a break. So a full year out of the ring could be a blessing. The rest has surely done him some good, letting his body heal up.
We haven't seen a 100 percent rested Lomachenko in some time, and in this fight against Lopez, we'll see if Lomachenko's minor struggles had more to do with injuries or just wear and tear. The only downfall to the rest is that Lomachenko hasn't been hit with 8-ounce gloves in over a year, and he'll be in there with a real puncher, a bigger guy who is dangerous every second they're in that ring.
What Lopez does best
Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko speak with Mark Kriegel about their true feelings when they met in the ring after Lopez beat Richard Commey in December 2019.
Lopez has punching power, and at just 23, he has time to get even better. He has physical attributes that many other fighters in his weight class -- or fighters in general in boxing -- do not have. He has those fast-twitch type of muscle fibers that allow him to explode with both hands, and he has unbelievable timing. And he is able to read guys and figure them out quickly.
That's the reason why Lopez has been able to dominate guys, catch them and hurt them. His timing has been right on the button.
Lopez's strongest attack
Teofimo Lopez says his long layoff from the ring will be beneficial and result in him getting a knockout win over Vasiliy Lomachenko.
It's going to be about positioning and timing for Lopez. Lomachenko tends to come back to the center line, meaning he'll come back in the line of fire, but with his constant movement he is never there for very long. Lomachenko is always seemingly in punching range, because he has short arms, but that movement is the great equalizer.
Lomachenko has this ability to get on the side of you, find those angles, hit you and then get out. If you have a really strong ring IQ, which I believe Lopez does, you should know that coming in, and you should be able to understand how to turn with him. When Lomachenko angles out, Lopez will probably turn with him. If he does, that should open up two different punches for Lopez -- the left hook and the uppercut.
What can be learned from Lopez's last fight, against Richard Commey?
Lopez showed devastating one-punch knockout power against Commey, knocking him out in the second round. Commey was a fierce champion, a guy who could punch and was a little bit taller, leaner. Even though Commey is a bit one-dimensional, he held a world title for a reason.
Lopez proved he is the real deal by taking the belt from the champion in emphatic fashion. It also shows his mental strength: He said he was going to beat Commey, he believed it and he made it real.
Lopez comes into this fight an even better, more dangerous fighter. Once you become champion, you automatically become better as a fighter, just on pure confidence alone. This is a perfect opportunity for him to seize his moment, because I don't think we'll ever see a Lopez who is more confident than he is now -- coming off a title win, still undefeated and backing up all of his hype.
As he stares down the biggest challenge of his career, Lopez couldn't be in a much better place mentally.
Did a long layoff help or hurt Lopez?
I think the rest has probably done Lopez some good. He has been able to figure out some things, and I'm sure that he is going into this fight having had deep conversations with his wife on what he wants to do in the long term and how he wants to live his life. No matter how big a part of his life his father is, Lopez is forging his own path with his own plan. He has matured a lot quicker than expected inside of the ring.
I think this long of a runway also has helped Lopez make sure he' isn't going to have problems with his weight cut. I'm happy to hear that he is already pretty close to the weight with some time to spare. This is a serious fight, and Lopez showing he can conform to that extreme level of discipline is encouraging.
How Lomachenko-Lopez plays out
I think we're getting both guys at dangerous points in their careers. One of these guys is going to have one of the biggest, if not the biggest, moment in his career. If Lomachenko wins, he will reach another level entirely. He will be on a level all his own. And while there are still likely to be a lot more chapters for Lopez moving forward, it's hard to see anything being quite this big of a deal, especially if he wins. It would make him an instant superstar.
As for the fight itself, once Lomachenko feels the punching power and understands Lopez's range, that's when he is going to start punching. Lomachenko typically doesn't get active until the fourth or fifth round, which is when he starts to put things together. In the beginning, he is downloading the information; he is seeing what these guys know and what they understand. Lomachenko is seeing what he can get away with and how he can get into a position to land his attack.
Once Lomachenko downloads the information, that's when the intensity is going to turn up, and that could be when things get bad for Lopez. At that point in the fight, I believe Lopez will have to possibly fight from the outside and make it difficult for Lomachenko to get to where he wants to get, which is midrange -- where his offense is most effective.
Watching this fight play out in my head, I feel that both guys are going to be somewhat cautious in the beginning. I don't feel Lopez will come out and just go straight at Lomachenko. In theory, it would seem a little foolish to just run at Lomachenko right out of the gate.
On the other hand, that kind of aggression could be a genius-level move, especially if it works. By coming at Lomachenko immediately, it nullifies some of what Lomachenko is trying to do in mapping out a game plan. With most guys, they give Lomachenko respect early on.
The problem is that coming out quickly could be disastrous on the back end if Lopez doesn't get a finish. The longer the fight goes on, the more Lomachenko's gas tank and experience will likely allow him to take over the fight.
I feel that Lopez has to hurt Lomachenko and earn his respect. The later the fight goes, the better it is for Lomachenko. If Lopez can find an opening and hurt Lomachenko, that's bad news for Lomachenko because Lopez has demonstrated he is a great finisher. History shows that if Lopez hurts you, he's going to finish you.
If there's any point in this fight, especially in the early rounds, when you see Lopez buzz Lomachenko, it's probably going to end soon thereafter.
Prediction
Lopez and his father have had Lomachenko on their radar since the beginning. After he has been right so many times, it gets hard not to believe Senior, because everything he has said, his son has done. And he has said that they're not just going to beat Lomachenko, they're knocking him out.
They've been studying Lomachenko, looking for and finding every little weakness. They know Lomachenko inside and out. And then you take a guy like Lomachenko, who just barely has put Lopez on his radar only recently because he won a world title. Lomachenko hasn't ever really seemed to take Lopez seriously.
Now Lomachenko is standing in front of Lopez, a guy who has been planning for Lomachenko since he started his professional career, wanting to fight Lomachenko, pressing the issue and doing everything he could to get in this position. Lopez truly believes that he can beat Lomachenko. He sees a weakness that we don't see.
The Lopez family, father and son, have done everything that they said they were going to do in the lead-up to this fight.
It's hard for me to go against that. Even with it being Lomachenko. They have proved themselves right, over and over again, and I feel that it's not going to be any different this time around. I'm taking Lopez, by knockout.