Vasiliy Lomachenko starts slow but beats Jose Pedraza by lopsided UD

Going into his lightweight title fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko, no one thought Jose Pedraza had a chance. Pedraza outperformed expectations.

Before their bout on Saturday, Dec. 8, everyone thought that Jose Pedraza didn’t have any hope of defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko. The Sportsbook Review had Pedraza hovering around 45-1 odds as a gargantuan underdog. Lomachenko was regarded by most as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, but Pedraza gave him a tougher fight than most predicted.

Pedraza started the fight as the aggressor as he tried to walk Lomachenko down. Lomachenko’s southpaw stance combined with Pedraza’s orthodox positioning made it hard for anyone to land cleanly. Lomachenko eventually timed Pedraza with a single straight left to Pedraza’s head. Very few punches were thrown, but that lone left won Lomachenko the round.

Pedraza briefly switched to southpaw in round two, but it was a brief ploy that didn’t last. He changed levels and targeted Lomachenko’s body. Pedraza’s six-inch reach advantage slowed down Lomachenko’s punch rate, but Lomachenko found his straight left again. Lomachenko had a hard time getting his punches off.

Lomachenko probed Pedraza’s defense in the third. He darted in and out of range attempting to get Pedraza to throw punches, but Pedraza remained patient. Both boxers were economical with their punches. This fight was a chess match where each fighter tried to set traps and counter the other. Lomachenko landed the cleaner shots.

Pedraza moved back to southpaw in the fourth and stayed that way for a prolonged time. He flicked out his jab, but Lomachenko’s head avoided all of them. His jab landed more efficiently than Pedraza’s, but he couldn’t work in much behind it. Pedraza’s defenses had Lomachenko a little gun shy.

Lomachenko started to throw his left to Pedraza’s chest in the fifth round, which was a sign that he was more apt to score a point than hunt for a knockout. With 15 seconds left, Lomachenko scored a quick flurry of punches that won him the round.

Lomachenko hit Pedraza with a strong left-right combination that pushed him back in the sixth. Lomachenko’s left hand landed more consistently, but Pedraza’s defenses were good enough to make sure that Lomachenko’s offense didn’t snowball out of control.

Pedraza started to tie Lomachenko up when he got too close in the seventh round. Lomachenko’s combinations poured out more frequently. Pedraza showed signs of fatigue for the first time, and Lomachenko took advantage. He continued to land on Pedraza’s body.

Pedraza hit Lomachenko with several body shots early in round eight. He moved back and made Lomachenko chase him. Pedraza tried to counter him and did so effectively on multiple occasions. It was a good round for Pedraza. He proved that his boxing abilities are elite and that he belonged in the ring with Lomachenko.

Lomachenko picked up the pressure in the ninth on Pedraza as he stalked him around the ring, but was hesitant to let his hands go. Pedraza kept Lomachenko off of him for most of the round, but Lomachenko crashed a right uppercut to Pedraza’s jaw that momentarily stunned him in the closing seconds.

In round 10, the distance between both men shortened, and they fought in the pocket. Each had their moments, but Lomachenko seemed out of sync. His punches were more powerful than Pedraza’s, but he didn’t look special.

Pedraza shifted back to southpaw in round 11 and used his jab well. Then Lomachenko broke through his defenses and started to hit Pedraza at will. Pedraza froze, and Lomachenko constantly pummeled Pedraza with left and right hands. He tamed Pedraza’s heart and dropped him to one knee. Pedraza made it to his feet, but Lomachenko put him back to the canvas with a short right to the body. Pedraza got up right as the bell rang.

In the final round, Pedraza ran for his life. He tried to survive the round but Lomachenko’s left found Pedraza’s head and buckled his legs, but he remained on his feet. Lomachenko used up a lot of his stamina in the previous round and couldn’t find enough offense to knock out Pedraza.

Pedraza stuck around to the final bell which exceeded most pundit’s expectations. Lomachenko took longer than expected to figure Pedraza out, but he flashed his brilliance in the 11th round. Not every fight is going to be a knockout, but Lomachenko did enough to secure his place as boxing best fighter.